Fallen Cathedrals

Two houses--unalike in dignity Conjoined, but still worlds apart Though from a distance, perceived equality The symmetry a mere illusion One revels in extravagance Affluence borne from les vieux riche The other dwells in destitution An endless struggle to survive The fragile balance, thus far maintained Is only moments from collapse A single action, intended or happenstance Could sever the final thread Though loathing is so thinly veiled Inaction maintains the accord Thus do the two sides remain in artificial harmony In the illusion of perfection Humanity fails to survive Masses enthralled by the deception Never to make it out alive In quiet hours, the leering eyes reveal the truth Each side awaiting the other’s declaration Each day that passes brings them closer to the brink The tension ever-growing Moments left until impending war In opulence, the wealthy raise a toast to that unearned A ceremony for the luxury into which they were born While only steps away, the poor collapse, no celebration Beyond the victory of surviving yet another day This duality can only result in catastrophe Blinded by arrogance, the wealthy see no consequence For as they indulge, they siphon off more than is theirs The balance broken, one side is drained to feed the other The shadow cast becomes an all-consuming truth Two houses--hatred has taken hold A final loss of parity In the delusion of perfection Damnation will too soon arrive We’ve fallen prey to the deception We’ll never make it out alive

We are afflicted, unworthy of conscious thought Our hopes they wish to extinguish In but a moment our world is swallowed by shadows While they thrive in the light Euphoric screams, soon to be drowned in agony Within the silence, spewing animosity Our voices will be heard Gathering our strength, we no longer feel restraint From darkness we will rise Hostility; declension turns to victory Our former adversaries become our new allies United, we arise For as the light was taken, so were the rules of peace Their downfall they’ve demanded Too long we’ve been the victims Crushed beneath their excess Deaf to our acrimony Nevermore unnoticed From deep within the mire We will draw our power Our hearts so deeply blackened Beating pure ichor Our strength will be their weakness Unified in hatred With faith at our disposal Praise the insurrection Our judgment will be final Overwhelming vengeance Atop the world we’ll stand Witness our ascension We will reclaim the world they’ve taken from beneath The waning moon, arisen, serves as a flare of hope A beacon for our vengeance For those that we are haunting, it will be a grim pharos Illuminating their defeat

Like undead soldiers, craving living flesh The small rebellion presses forward Towards the gleaming towers Dominating the bleak horizon Blinded by fury, vengeance their ammunition A strategy to inflict brutality On those they know To be the cause of their suffering Approaching demarcation Invisible, but still it’s seen as a reminder of their inferiority The symbolic-border crossing A violation that breaks down the trust established As pent-up rage grows stronger The old world crumbles into dust A field of descendants whom they hate Seen only as targets, planted as bait The slaughter is rapid, the terror unbound Light fades from their eyes as screams echo ‘round Consumed by their hatred, a wave of depravity Banished any sense or semblance of morality This is retaliation, the horror of scorn The blood beneath their fingernails will stain forevermore They gaze downward upon the corpses Seen forthwith as human A realization settles in; they flee for safety Their hands are stained Deeds they wish to be unspoken As regret slowly cripples, Their unity is torn away A new desire that this will remain unspoken Their blood has forever stained a blight upon my hands For this is the cycle of retaliation and regret

Their ivory tower shattered, Forced into awareness The leisure class rudely awakened No longer will they mock those That fortune ignored War gives no preference to affluence A strategy constructed to show their dominance Forsaking ferocity… or so they tell themselves Concealed within the shadows They slink across the edge Seeking those most defenseless Innocents: the prime hostages Their vile task completed, a rapid exit made They revel in their acquisitions When daylight slays the dark, The deed will be revealed And they’ll regain the upper hand Seeking negotiation, this act the cornerstone Though it may crumble quickly, And all will be brought down When morning greets the victims They find what has been filched Grim fears no longer imagined This war has now begun

Resurgence! Our battle cry Calling forth our primitive souls Decorum Is cast away Insurgence! We will arise As the beasts you’ve claimed us to be No longer Denying the urge Embracing our lost savagery We are the voice of devolution Convergence! We have become A single, malicious machine Remorseless Our vengeance unleashed Violence: our new identity Devouring everything you cherish Discard your shreds of sanity Witness the world around you perish Predation has awoken We will be the last to stand Your end, our delectation Full subjugation we demand! Embracing our lost savagery We are the voice of devolution The end of false nobility This is the fatal revolution Time to reset the balance Inversion of the stratum They’ll be the ones who kneel

Knowing not if they are forsaken They wait in misery Victims culled for innocence But then a sound heard in the distance Silencing their cries Is this salvation a lie? Secured in a makeshift prison The victims on display In cages, crude and filthy A gruesome mockery Sentries fall into formation Like wolves guarding their feast Fuck the hopes of liberation They will tear apart the beasts If it is war that is desired Then all involved will acquiesce The prisoners will become fodder An example for those who aggress In silence, The factions, like statues, stand On the surface Salivating carnivores Both sides hunters, both sides prey But few truly desire This final descent into madness In exchange for those held captive A demand of sacrifice He who leads the invasion Will submit to their device With but a moments’ consideration A figure steps from the mass An oblation to the god of war With hopes that this hell will pass True to the promises made The captives are freed from their pens While a soon-to-be-dead martyr Enters the cage that will be his end

Moments to final exhalation He seeks the comfort of his memories Seen through the haze that is his vision A shadowed figure provides liberation A moment’s contemplation To leave this hell behind No! They have freed their destroyer “I will become death’s disciple No remorse will taint my wrath A kindness has unleashed their ruin” With freedom now regained A revelation floods his mind Deep inside the domain of his enemy Vengeance will be delivered from within “I will be the one who ensnares the oppressor Who demands the penitence my kin deserve For what has befallen us in recent days And for all of the suffering that came before” To bring down the beast he must remove the head Find the lone creator, the architect of discord For it’s he who must be forced to pay for his sins The source of their damnation, His demise will end the divide In the distance, his target seen A monolithic tower Inside the tyrant dwells “I will traverse the gauntlet Let nothing thwart my task In moments, in his blood I’ll bask.”

Armed with only a lust for vengeance, The infiltrator weaves his way through shadowed alleys The lavish dwellings that provide cover Serve also to remind him of what he lacks At the monoliths’ edge lies a clearing Beyond which stands the structure he has sought Behind the façade of marble and glass Sits the one who has orchestrated this war Though human in appearance, he is little more than beast Feeding on the grief of those all around him Thriving on the agony his construct has created Nurturing the collapse for his own delectation Already a flesh-bound god Immune to life’s cruel fates Far beyond paltry, crude defenses In silence he sits, his eyes transfixed Focused on the distant violence Elated that his work has produced such elegant chaos For this is the score he so carefully composed A symphony of primitive hatred A slow crescendo building to a deafening roar The assailant watches as his target basks In the euphoric state this hell has delivered Pure, orgasmic joy spawned by crippling agony Only reinforcing that the deed must be done But now the time has finally arrived The suffering from many will move to one As a single point of focused hatred He will collapse this pillar of sorrow No moments wasted on reluctance or regret The fates have chosen their sacrificial savior Slinking down to the cellar, far below the tainted earth He places the charges, without sympathy or qualms A swift exit, in moments to safety he flees As his hand pulls the trigger, eradicating the disease Silence cracked by deafening thunder He collapses, victorious The final cathedral falls to dust