...With a Stone in my Maw

Grubs squirming in the fuel-choked mud Fat with panic and blood Great birds circle round above them Wings pelted by sleet Freezing the wet and wallowing army An empire in eternal stasis A way of life so gilded Suspended by hooks above The sea of hungry little lives Desperate for a piece of the meat To call their own Lone sapling grasps the gas-choked sky Stifled by the writhing bodies Roots snuffed out with vitae Striving for a form of glory Swallowed by the rings of its elders Devoured without meaning A way of life so rotten Preserved in pyrite honey until the scars of the earth cause The grubs to molt and reach With blood soaked wings To ever expanding sky To ever expanding sky (x4)

I walked alone for far too long Trapped within the dark of night They came to me wielding magic and light Granting me their truest sight Hewn from marble or finest wood Crafted by the devil himself They came to me one by one Intertwined warm fingers with mine The three witches reach for me Drawing me from beyond the veil of blood The three witches sing to me Freeing me from the darkness I call home The witches chanted through their rituals Granting me their magical warmth They came to me in time of greatest need And I gave to them my life The three witches scream to me Carving through the armor that binds my soul The three witches cling to me Freeing me from the prison of my mind Cackling, chanting, they dance in the fires Burning hot with wicked desires Dreaming, weaving, they spin on the loom Making our love ‘neath the light of the moon Forever more I shall love them forever more I shall love you forever more

Darkness falls upon the land As the goblins join together Under the flying banners of goblin supremacy They spread out across the world Burning fields, torturing people Building a pile of treasures high For the goblin master! We must defeat them With magic. And steel. And grind them to nothing So our people can heal. Darkness falls upon the land As the fascists join together Under the flying banners of Red, white, and blue They spread out across the world Butchering and detaining people Building a pile of bodies high For their fascist masters Children’s stories, myths, and fables Often impart necessary lessons We must defeat them With unity and solidarity And grind them to nothing So our world can heal. Let no fascist breathe again

A moonbeam spotlight Falls upon my aching mind Revealing shapes and patterns Sketched by a lifetime I pace alone Footsteps on the hard wood stage Of Thèâtre des Vampyres Reciting lines to none *Come to me* *I can make you strong* *I can grant you power* *I can grant you control* What is this which speaks to me? Of bargains and promises Of power and control Over my companions I reject your deal For I desire power not I just desire to be whole Rid of my obsessive rot *Come to me* *I can make you whole* *I can grant you purpose* *I shall quiet your soul* Visions of a quieted mind How can I reject The only way to cease my pain? Dear mask, cursed being, I Accept Finally I am back in this world My hunting ground of bleeding hearts Fire crackles beneath me Rising to a fever pitch Whooping and cackling I wield my blade Consuming the hearts of all of the slain I shall wreak devastation Upon the souls of living and the DEAD! I have stolen your form as my own Granting your purpose so desired As my chained body slave Forevermore! You shall witness all of our sins You shall know they are your own! You shall watch me kill them all! You are now as ever ALONE! What have I done? The blame lies with me alone! Nowhere to run All I can do Is resist the curse I must remove this mask I must be free Again I am free… But at what cost…. A moonbeam spotlight Falls upon my aching mind Revealing shapes and patterns Sketched by a lifetime I pace alone Footsteps on the soft ash pile Of my lonely life in unlife Reciting my lines to none Again

I’ve awaited this moment so long This sharpened stake at my breast This wreathe of garlic tied ‘round my slender neck with silver wire … But superstitions cannot Kill me Cannot free me from my endless torment My body has become so heavy My mind so full of nails I long to see the sun and moon And stars and roses and lovers … But I am blind Like a bat with deafened ears I am trapped within my own corpse I am deceased I long to cease I long to take control Of my destiny and free my mind And free my tired soul This earth holds so little for me now aside from pain Aside from self imposed Anguish in isolation I reach for the cleansing fire I claw towards the light of the sun I’ve awaited this moment so long With heavy chain wrapped ‘round my neck A mob of straining living bodies Dragging me from my home Towards the sun Towards the light Towards the end Towards freedom They arrive to kill me Their sun sinking in the west The frigid shackles of my night Tighten ‘round my spine I let them take me I let them spit in face I no longer care what they do I no longer drag my weight I let myself go limp I let myself expire I welcome myself into the light I welcome eternal fire This night holds so little For me now aside from shame Aside from self imposed Hatred and despair I reach for the cleansing fire I claw towards the light of the sun

I shall infect them All the voices shall say My body I claimed as my own Rejecting the will of God A sacrifice to the moon of blood Of my own blood! I shall infect them All the children shall sing Under the light of full moon Dancing among the silver trees Reveling in this flesh granted to me Which is mine! They shall hunt me In the home claimed by me On the cold stones I walk In the sheets that cloak me In the darkness that I call my own They shall kill me Putting me down in the streets Like a dog, like a monster For the petty crime of claiming my flesh My body and my bones I am safe until my nature is discovered A falsified truth that they believe A reality that is no longer real A mass delusion of my enemies I reject their laws when I pierce my skin I burn their sanctuaries when I mold my flesh I kill their god when I claim what is mine I spit on the notion of divine right And claim my body My birthright given to me By the blood of my mother They do not understand They do not tolerate They do not abide They cannot allow me to exist So they bury me on my side With a stone in my maw

They will die When the second star Falls Splits open her wizened skull Blood pours forth A new River of Thlamet Feeds New life of a sundered form Wicked things Tear their flesh and bring Twisted shattered mirrors Of her host Cullers' blades Stolen from those who yet live As they change into the monsters That they once slew Unborn god yet lives on Taking his sister's place On desiccated throne Etching his name on blood and mind Those who were bred to kill Cannot reject his dozen hands Unborn god yet lives on With magic now in his hands They will try to break his back But the faithful Cullers cannot hope to prevail Against the very essence they draw from They are unmade. Then reborn! Glistening fangs; towering horns Their bodies now betray them As their minds grow dim And their souls bathe in blood Thundering hooves; jagged antlers All nature of beast and man Joined together In unholy matrimony Reborn! They are reborn In Blood!

Trapped inside my body Victim of my mind I’m beholden to darkness! Forced to walk the earth For untold millennia I forgot myself long ago! Mind a stranger to myself Name lost to the Blood My body isn’t mine I can never look in the mirror Again! Who am I? Cursed to crave Virgin blood I can never Feel Life ripped out of my throat I only wish to be reborn So I give myself to the moon I bathe in her cleansing light I will hunt my sire down I will reclaim what is mine