The darkness comes from focusing on states that are usually ignored — emotional numbness, low-grade anxiety, and mental noise rather than clear pain or release. I’m interested in what it feels like when something is wrong but not dramatic enough to name.
This frames darkness as observation, not suffering.
- BOW
A quiet voice telling you bow
A quiet voice telling you bow
A quiet voice telling you bow
No one standing there
No one standing there
No one standing there
The kingdom is derailed
The kingdom is derailed
The people repeat
The people repeat
Silent quilt
Blessed and bane
I’m going insane
My head is blown
Words rot in the mouth
They slide no more
Bow
Bow
Choke
A king with no home
Grind the stone
The king waits
Yet he is not home
Knees bent
Grinding into stone
Skin raw
Drugged and stoned
They ring a bell
With no dome
I open a book
Smoke crawls out
Bow
Bow
Choke
⸻
- LIAR’S CHAIR
Liar’s chair
Liar’s chair
Crowned in dust, breathing air
Broken crowns and empty plates
How could they emancipate
They sit in their chair of thorns
Looking over what was born
No cloud in the air
As they sit in the liar’s chair
Laughter fills their cups
Breathing dust
Crops rot in the mud
Golden pillars, ruby steps
Liar’s chair
Liar’s chair
Feasting on rotten food
Thou shall not eat in vain
Murky wine stains their teeth
As they sit in the liar’s chair
Skin peels from the bone
Turning everyone to stone
Lie
Lie
Lie
In your chair
⸻
- MR. HANGMAN
Mr. Hangman
What’s on your head
Bitter thoughts drowning
Looping events in your head
Mistaken like a hat
Mr. Spirit sneaks in
Complicated when you lay in bed
Mr. Hangman
Why can’t you rest
Vibrations reveal cracks
Entertainment for the wrecked
Mr. Spirit
Why do you whisper
Why do you poison
Why don’t you let him rest
Mr. Cleaver breaks the spine
No oxygen left
Noose slips slow
Constriction
Mr. Hangman
Go lay and rest
⸻
- LOST AND FOUND
I’m lost and found
Only not found
Surrounded by
A broken camera flash
Blinding me
There hangs a coat
It will not shroud me
I must be happy
In the lost and found
There’s a bottle
So you keep drinking
I must be happy
There’s a roof that leaks
At least I’m sheltered
Broken toes on freezing floors
I pull a blanket
It keeps the cold
Smile for it
Be grateful
“This is enough,”
They said
So I must be happy
⸻
- MARK THE WATER
Mark the wall and the stall
Before I kick you with a ball
Quickly
Swiftly
Who put those thoughts in your head
Berated
Serrated
Is the flesh
Constrained
Don’t drink the water
They will poison your head
We are better than
The wasted
Acid is rancid
That’s why I like it
Under bright lights
So cold
I can’t dine
I reflect no shine
Six feet down
With one leg
Leave me out of me
⸻
- NOOSE
Forever constrained to these chains
Buried in vein and brain
I’m all alone
I can’t breathe
Six feet down
Still awake
These chains close in
Untie this noose
Wide awake
Unrecognizable
Cold skin
Rain veins
The sun shines black
Cut me loose
Let me leave
⸻
- BITTER TEETH
Bitter lies stick to my tongue
Everything decays where it’s done
Wide awake
Half erased
Rotten world in front of me
I don’t fit what I’m meant to be
Clock ticks loud
Against my chest
Numb isn’t peace
It’s delay
Bitter lies
Still on my tongue
⸻
- COMPRESSED
Different poison
Same weight
Walls breathing
Chains everywhere
Crawling into pits I built
No mercy
No light
Just me
Compressed
⸻
- SETTING SAIL
Setting sail far away
Maybe this pain will end
The city fades
Night pulls close
This boat built from blood and guilt
I land
Demons follow
Why did I let them in
Another punch on the chin
⸻
- CRUMBLED STONE
Ruins whisper lies they told
Stone reclaims the gold
Crowns rust
Mirrors shatter
Pressure cracks the room
All that glimmered sinks to dust
Night swallows their might