There’s a monster in my chest
He beats my heart like drums
I’m choking on this blood of mine
That’s pooling in my lungs.
I feel as though I’m drowning
And my vision’s turning white
Blur before me, avalanche
Tell me that I’m right.
There’s a hole inside my body
Where you’ve eaten me away
I squint through colour, motion, shame
I stumble to the end of days
Jerusalem falls around me
The soldiers at the wall
Have laid siege to my temple
Just a day too long
It’s October, when I crumble
Flames burn away my gold-tinged skin
I fall like Autumn leaves
And whisper curses to the wind.
There was something here, once
A beauty to be had
But I lost that, oh years ago
When everything turned bad
I am the image of no one.
The sky is empty tonight
My limbs are dead around me
And my neck is flecked with blight.
I zone out to rope and medicine
And vomit down my front
There are monsters haunting me
From which I turn and run
They’re down every hallway
Handprints on every wall
They’ve cracked every floorboard
Pandemonium feels so small.
My body’s not my own now
I’m blood and flesh and shame
That’s why I call him Monster
For I do not know his name
Tears rip through my eyelids
And spill right down my face
This isn’t what I wanted
This boiling, burning place.
But I see him when I close my eyes
And count, so slow, to ten
I choke on black and empty space
And whisper my amen.
I’m begging you to save me
Just pull me out of here
I don’t know if I want to die
But I do want to disappear.
I want you to rest me easy,
Cotton, for my face,
Press til I stop kicking,
And over me, say grace.
Purge the evil from this vessel
And rid the monster, yes
I s’pose I’ll meet you in the elsewhere
It’s not for me to guess.