1. |
A Letter
04:49
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They found you where the sunrise marks the treeline
In the park where we shared summers
White flowers framed your body
The frost in your hair, a halo made
Your eyes reflected dawnlight
Because they failed the shine their own
Ever since you went away, white flowers have taken the place of you, placing roots where you used to be
I see them from my window, they’re covering the city
They’re growing on your grave
Choking cherished memories –
I can’t hear your voice, I can’t recall your face
No breath can hold your name
I can feel you taking hold of
All that I know, all that I love
Is this how you choose to haunt me?
Through petals that refuse to fade?
Then let my eyes shut ‘til the day you are returned to me
Or blinded, evermore, I shall remain
This letter is the last I’ll write
I’ll cover it with dirt
And if a flower should take root there
You’ll never read a word
I don’t want these flowers, I want you to return to me
I’ll see you again
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2. |
Sinking
03:24
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I'm having trouble finding sleep, finding peace
it evades me once again, I watch it slip through
my fingers.
Drowning in an ocean of bedsheets
a burning in my lungs
watch the ceiling sky collapse through waves of
solemn isolation
as I commit myself to sinking
where your voice can't reach me.
Outside my door the hall continues breathing
life into the walls that shape the rooms of the house.
Do the pictures hanging in their frames show me
what I am, or what I was?
What have I become?
O, to name my burden
this weight around my neck
to be free of this anchor
that holds me to this bed.
My life can be mapped out within ten blocks.
I mark the years by summers spent with
family, friends, and books.
But I feel like something's missing
there must be something more.
I think I need to open up my door.
I need to see this house that built me,
be reminded of the love that wrapped itself
around me whenever I was lost.
I need to hear the sounds of trains ring through
Maxine before I leave.
So here I am, walking on the same route
that I've followed for years, to the edge of town
passed everything I know
and still further I go.
I think I'll leave part of me behind,
the best of me to live within my shelves.
I'll be felt throughout the house,
with no more to take and nothing to be held
I won't let you watch me sink,
this burden is my own.
I won't forget Maxine Street.
I won't forget my home.
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3. |
To Swallow Moon and Sun
04:09
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I stand eternal.
I stand eternal formed by
The hands of Man that claw at the feet of God and
Still fold themselves in prayer.
By these hands Heaven might collapse
And become one with the kingdom of Man.
A kingdom made of concrete, steel, and asphalt halls
A monument of mortal make
I’ve watched them live and grow for generations
I’ve earned their faith
They’ve shared their hopes and dreams,
And I’ve come to understand
The meaning of God to Man
I know that I was meant for something more
To take the place of Heaven here on earth
That I was made to satisfy their appetite
With a taste of forever
But I feel them growing restless
They fail to see the reason
In distance between this life and the next
Now I fear what I must do
I’ll pray I’m not forsaken
If redemption still exists
I’ve unhinged my jaw of towers grown to rival sky
These teeth, like hands of Man that grasp at God,
Will carve my name on Heaven’s gate as I
Swallow moon and sun.
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4. |
Silvertongue
03:16
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He came to me with a smile
“I come to you as a friend, one with a question:
What is it that you want most in this life?
Power? Glory? Knowledge? Courage?
Justice? Revenge? Heaven? Name it.
Name your desire, it shall be yours.
I ask for your soul in return.
So what’s your answer to my offer?
Let mouth and mind be quick!”
“My mind and mouth are quick enough.
My answer is this:
God of Silvertongue
My name will bleed your lips,
Stay your cursed hands from ‘round my throat.
You should have held me not in thought
And freed yourself from me.
O, God of Silvertongue, I am the End.
Long I have waited
For your ravenous shade to take the form of man
And come to me.
In showing yourself
A question I must ask:
What is it you want most in this life?
Man of Silvertongue
By the stroke of my blade
I offer the freedom you most desire.
Come closer to me
And let me whisper, soft
The only blessing you have come to know:
Slave of Silvertongue
The fault lies not on you – burdened by the weight of devilspeech.
Steel will meet flesh
The Tongue will be silenced.
Find salvation in this violent act.”
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5. |
Cendre
04:02
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6. |
My Memory (Your Home)
04:46
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A dissonance within me resonates inside my chest
Following the tempo set by this constant of a heartbeat
I whisper your name so often that it feels just like breathing
I swear I see your shadow walk alongside my own
Old friend of mine, I have something to confess
I’m not the man I thought I was
The man I thought I would be
Has not yet taken shape
I am a coward feigning bravery, this mask becomes my face
I was weak when you needed me for strength—when you needed me to keep you from the gun.
Sorry’s not enough, and I don’t think
that I can ask for your forgiveness
When we were kids we’d spend our days walking the town
I’d follow and you’d lead
Riverbeds and alleyways, where we chose to lay our heads
Concrete’s the perfect place for sleep.
Now every summer, I grow older,
Every winter growing colder.
Your name grows warmer with every breath I take
I don’t think I’ll ever understand
Why you put that gun in your hand
Or why you pulled the trigger
But I hope you found some peace
However far away you are from me
I won’t be discouraged by the distance
I think I’ll start to live again, and I won’t be alone
You’ll be safe within my thoughts
My memory—your home.
A melody within me resonates inside my chest
Following the tempo set by this constant of a heartbeat
When I sing your name I swear I’ll scream it loud.
A song made just for you.
Can you hear the
Sound?
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7. |
She, Nameless
02:26
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She’s a stranger in my bloodstream
Her claw marks line my wrists
Now she burns her way through every vein
And crowns herself the queen
She calls me her wasteland
A living vessel bound to her and kept under her foot
But my teeth will greet her heel
Her porcelain façade
Will be broken like the needle of her birth
I’ve grown tired of this bond
I will myself to bleed
She fails to notice the resentment in my face
If I could take her crown
And cast her from the throne
I won’t have a wasteland, but a kingdom of my own
My blood screams its opinion.
My body screams along.
My veins become a chorus.
I’m deafened by the sound.
I choose not to bow.
I choose not to praise.
I come for her crown.
I come for her throat.
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8. |
Crash
06:11
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I return to when it happened, I see the damage done
Chest plagued by panic, breathe and burn
I remember hearing sirens, the soundtrack to the day
And a mockingbird’s melody somewhere far away
But now our hands, clasped, find no fracture
No distance ‘tween our lips
There’s sanctuary found in your vermillion kiss.
In this bed we lay together, I’m redeemed of my past failure
Closer than the asphalt held you when I couldn’t.
But I swear I was there, I saw the way you hurt
The way you looked so fragile while the angels did their work
But I blink and it’s just you and me and moonlight from the window
You called for me by name, I hear the quiet echo
Hallway after hallway, room after room
It’s here you finally see me and memories connect
I wish just one would leave me
I hope you never see the thing that makes me
Shut my eyes and grit my teeth.
An image is returned to me every day.
Will the red forever hold the reflection of my face?
I wish it wouldn’t.
Still, this scene is so familiar
Lips stained crimson crashing soft
Our breath becomes mosaic
Our voices are a song
To be whispered with the sweetest tongue
To resonate against the walls and windows
That grow brighter with the brand new sun
We are awake when this day becomes the next,
But your eyes are growing heavy
You lay your head upon my chest.
And it’s in this perfect moment
I think I catch a glimpse of Heaven while you sleep.
Sleep now under bones that house angels.
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9. |
Maxine
05:16
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How have you been?
It’s been a while since the last time I wrote you.
Do you still sing? Or daydream at the worst of times?
Walk at night to free your mind?
Gather courage from stars that glow and hum like city lights?
Can you still hear the sound of the trains behind my house?
Does it even reach where you are?
I may never know.
And where is that exactly?
I never got the chance to ask you about it in the last letter I wrote.
My hands are stained with ink pouring from my pen
My loose-leaves start to curl and yellow
Like leaves hanging from the tree
In the front yard, offering its shade
I can see us reading there and sharing our own stories.
So I play out both our roles:
A conjuror of fables who destroys to create,
And one who deals in prose and marvels at the way
The world takes shape before them,
And comes to life from page.
I follow your old route with hope that I’ll see you there
And pray that I’m not dreaming,
That this time you’re real.
Our walk ends on Maxine Street, the same place it began
Sixteen years before this – before you left.
I can’t be both of us forever
I think you know that, too.
I can’t be both of us forever
You need to come back soon.
Half of you remains here,
Your presence to be felt breathing through your stories,
Those lives upon your shelf.
Do you remember Maxine, this place to lay your head?
What about your family? What about your friends?
Half of you remains here,
Your presence to be felt breathing through your stories,
Those lives upon your shelf.
Still, here you have Maxine Street, a place to lay your head.
Here, you have your family. Here, you have your…
If you decide to come back home, and you can’t find your way
Just look up at the starlight
And listen for the trains.
You won’t have to worry about not finding me.
I’ve always kept the light on.
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Red Flag Warning Santa Fe Springs, California
We're just three people looking to make connections with others by being as honest as possible with the music we create.
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