L I M B S

[fed]

Scripted from the womb

Drowned shortly after birth

Still living, still breathing;

Newly adopted worth

Wonderfully made yet fearfully ruled

A father’s child set unto the world

Force fed

but never satiated

Bound by roots grown from mouths of men

Fearful of snakes in gardens

A thousand words for a thousand sins

A life carved in stone before it begins

[father's son]

Cut off my hand when it led me astray

I’ve wept before him

I’ve begged and I’ve prayed

I can’t remember a time before

Time before him never was

Wasted life blinded by his light

I now see through the darkness

Fool’s gold mined by sheep

following shepherds into the sea

They can’t remember

Time before him never was

Wasted life blinded by his light

I now see through the darkness

I was my father’s son

He was the ticking of the clock

He was rising of the sun

It’s too late

Time before him never was

Wasted life blinded by his light

I now see through the darkness

I was my father’s son

This is the path that was carved for me

The shepherd planted a seed

Leading sheep into the sea

I was my father’s son

It’s too late

[abba]

I can’t swallow this pill

when your well’s run dry

The shepherd’s pulled the wool over your eyes

You said we’d live forever

if we lived for our father

You said we’d live forever

You’re just another talking head

Moving your lips to the rhythm

of everything your father says

I’ll cut out my tongue before I repent

You’re just another talking head

You said we’d live forever

if we lived for our father

You said we’d live forever

You said we’d live

You shoved their tongues down my throat

The father, the son, and the holy ghost

The fruit of your spirit

has rotted away

You’re just another talking head

Moving your lips to the rhythm

of everything your father says

I’ll cut out my tongue before I repent

You’re just another talking head

[black thumb]

You say the enemy works its way in

But I think that nature finds it’s place

Avert your eyes from the being

We’ve skewed the framing

With purity on a pedestal

I can’t recall when their love

was eclipsed by their touch

A black thumb to our good nature

Shame passed down

from our forefather’s mouths

If this body’s a temple

then I’ve burnt it to the ground

Raised ashamed of our flesh

With blood dripping down our chins

We are cannibals, we are rabid dogs

We are searching for an answer

I can’t shake this feeling

that restraint has led me astray

With blood on my lips

and a stake in my heart

I watch them stumble and fall

Bleeding out on the floor

Again and again

Weighed down

by a bouquet of wilted flowers

Will they judge me by the bodies that I’ve accrued?

We’ve skewed the framing

With blood on my lips and a stake in my heart

We’ve skewed the framing

I’ve killed your concept with my black thumb

Raised ashamed of our flesh

With blood dripping down our chins

We are cannibals, we are rabid dogs

We are searching for an answer

Black thumb

[twelve stones]

Will you shower me with tears? 

(from the crown)

[weep]

Bury me,

when you bury me under the ground

will you christen me

with waters from the crown?

I can taste the ash on my tongue

Underneath the feet that he washed

You will weep for me

as I gnash my teeth

And you mourn the faith that I lost

You think you’re the fortunate ones

Marking your children with shame

from the day they were born

Walking backwards from birth

When they open their eyes

Will you weep when they burn?

I can taste the ash on my tongue

Underneath the feet that he washed

You will weep for me

as I gnash my teeth

And you mourn the faith that I lost

Christen me with tears

I can taste the ash on my tongue

Underneath the feet that he washed

You will weep for me

as I gnash my teeth

And you mourn the faith that I lost

I can taste the ash on my tongue

Underneath the feet that he washed

You will weep for me

as I gnash my teeth

And you mourn the faith that I lost

Will you weep for me?

[homestead]

Forming our fragile shells

made from our own personal hell

We carry their weight

on broken backs

Twisting ourself to ease our aching spine

We adopt lost causes

like orphaned distractions

Creating something

where there is nothing

The building blocks of a broken home

Unrest in the mortar

The building blocks of a broken home

Unrest in the mortar

Home of disorder

Can you feel your neighbor’s knife

resting in the base of your spine?

Bleed out the spite,

or prepare yourself

for a changing of times

We’ll swallow blood

before we swallow our pride

But we’re living meaningful lies

We’re living meaningful lies

We paint the lines

with the blood of our neighbors

So afraid of breaking out

Listen to the voices

The voices of our enemies

Your praises drown the sound

of their beating hearts

Your gospels are deafening

We paint the lines

with blood of our neighbors

We’re living meaningful lies

We paint the lines

with blood of our neighbors

We paint the lines

We’re so afraid of breaking

We’re so afraid

We form our fragile shells

made from our own personal hells

We’re afraid of breaking

We’re afraid of breaking out

[sacrament]

Take me down

You took me down to the river

where the waters run clear

and you said,

"Wash the ash from your tongue,

join your bodies as one"

Take me down to the river

where the waters run clear

Breathe the dirt from your lungs,

turn your eyes toward the sun

Take me down

[crossed]

Pull at the roots,

remove my scalp

Fracture the crown,

let what’s inside flow out

Amputate these foreign limbs

I don’t know where he ends

and where I begin

I lacked the vision

I lacked the vision to see through

Lead in my lungs,

exhaling poison

Blood on my tongue,

I heave in disgust

You worked your way in

through open wounds

So I’ll carve out my insides

Never again, 

Will I bow my head to you

I’ll spit blood

before I hallow your name again

Lead in my lungs, exhaling poison

Blood on my tongue, I heave in disgust

How many seasons have I ended?

How many fires have I snuffed out?

The only light that I see

are the countless bridges burning

Nothing to do but drown

I’ve crossed myself so many times

I once was lost but now I hold my head high

Lead in my lungs, exhaling poison

Blood on my tongue, I heave in disgust

[tangled hands]

I licked my wounds,

I watched the blood dry

Yet I can’t fill your empty space

Hollowed me out,

left me a shell

Corpses of doctrines

rotting in your place

I’ve torn the pages,

I’ve lost the plot

Nowhere to go from here,

no sense of direction

Hedonistic,

meaningless indulgence

Year after year

of refrain left me ill equipped

If there’s no rest in hell

then this is it

Wasn’t your job to save me

Tangling your hands

in everything

So many years strangling

the light inside of me

My vision’s bleak,

With no one here to save me

Thousands of words

robbed and murdered

Leaving me purposeless,

wandering, and afraid

When will I find direction?

You’ve left me empty and afraid

Hollowed out, left a shell

I can’t fill your empty space

When will I find direction?

Wasn’t your job to save me

Tangling your hands

in everything

So many years strangling

the light inside of me

My vision’s bleak,

With no one here to save me

[blister]

I can feel my hands

forming quiet blisters

Watching my faith

slip through my fingers

Now a bastard child

with a firm resolve

I can see clear

as the day I was born

Out of your pocket

onto the floor

Unravelling,

I’ve been here before

But never without looking up for you

The greatest loss

is when I was found

Raised to be deaf,

now I hear the sound

Of a thousand voices

I built your throne

on shallow words

Watched it crumble in context

Deeper now,

I feel something, somehow

I never thought I’d feel anything again

I’ve grown calloused and cold

And as I rest in nothingness

I feel breath on my lips

The breath of a mother’s child

Shallow now,

but still breathing somehow

I can feel it on my tongue

I can hear their song

The greatest loss

is when I was found

Raised to be deaf

now I hear the sound

Of a thousand voices singing

A thousand gods rejoicing

Maybe there’s something more than

All that has come

after the sound of my filling lungs

Maybe there’s something more