God of rats I’m gonna pray x4 I’m gonna pray to the god of bullets I’m gonna pray to the god of powder burns i’m gonna pray to the saint of sodomy I’m gonna pray to the god of infamy I’m gonna pray to the god of cancer I’m gonna watch the ticks grow fat I’m gonna pray to the saint of injury I’m gonna pray to the god of rats I’m gonna pray x4 I’m gonna pray to the saint of nooses I’m gonna pray to the god of the damned I’m gonna watch the leech grow fat You can sing to your god in heaven I’m gonna pray to the god of rats I’m gonna pray x4 I’m gonna pray to the saint of misery I’m gonna pray to the saint of junk I tell ya some day there’s gonna be a reckoning I’m tellin you now that you couldn’t run far enough I’m tellin you now that you won’t find a place to hide Your god up in heaven is gonna turn his face away I’m tellin you now everyone is gonna pay I’ve gone through your garbage I’ve lived on your scraps One of these days your streets are gonna run with rats I’m gonna pray x4 I’m gonna pray to the god of catacombs where the horrors of your dreams are gatherin’ Their no longer content with the scraps Their gonna come for your blood, and bone, their gonna come for your yellow fat God up in heaven is gonna turn his face away So you better pray to the god of rats

Pissing on a Rose I’m covered in clay and the fat of the land there are more of my kind the brothers of arsenic, and ricin, and wine pearls are before me and the silk is above and the pricks are right behind I’m pissing on a rose that is prettier than the faces of god I’m fucking a saint and I’m wiping my dick on the altar cloth I’m setting fire to the daughters of the world I’ve poisoned the bloodline of the sons of creation there is rape in my eyes and light in my skull I am fucking a rose that is prettier than the flowers of eden I am pissing on the knife wounds in the sky as the sun collapses I’ll hold its hands I’m covered in clay and the fat of the land Chorus I am the sun and the rain and the seed there’s nowhere to hide and nowhere to run to and no time to flee I am me x 3 I am free x 2 I am me x 3 I am free x 4 I am eating the meat of disgrace I am carving a sneer in the meat of my face I am born to the world through a wound in desire I am born to the cities on a wind of despair I am born to the women on a tide of tears I am born to the men in a winter of fears I am born to the children in a summer of hate I am born to the mouth of the night In a basket of reeds down the tongue of the river to the gift of my mother which is death wrapped up in desire I was born to the world to pass water on the gift of the fire Chorus I am crushing a rose that’s the heart of the father who was the light and the word of the people who raised up his hand to the world and never wept at the sight of the slaughter when he dies I’ll be holding his hands I’ll be covered in clay and the fat of the land surrounded by the stars and the swords that are the number of seven And I’ll piss on a rose that is prettier than the faces of god and the true name of heaven

Dirty Sky and Filthy Sea I am gone The soft skull The hard light The lined face With stained eyes I love the way the rain dies I’d rather chase the stars with long knives And get my hands around the throat of a sunrise But now I’ve gone Somewhere between The dirty sky and filthy sea I hear the song before the swan dies I slit her throat before the tears dry I’ll pull a pistol on the moonrise Steal your soul before the blood dries Just give in and let my wounds cry Watch the trees weep and the stones die Then fly off somewhere between The dirty sky and the filthy sea Slit the belly of a pearl Drown a flower Kiss a girl Drive my blade into the earth Refuse my death Deny my birth And everyone will know Exactly what my blood is worth And everyone will know The price of need And everyone will know That I made the stars bleed And nobody will miss me When I go Somewhere between The dirty sky and the filthy sea

calf's liver lamb shank blood cake a skinned buck break the wishin’ bone for luck heifer’s tongues sow’s lights for bigger prey take bigger bites the killing floor’s garnet river I’ve torn out the calf’s liver X clouded eye, and breath gone the drowned and burning ortolon the lamb’s cry the bull’s pride crack the bone to marrow suck severed rabbit’s foot for luck silver blade life taker ruddy butcher sleepless baker red flesh life giver I’ve eaten rare the calf’s liver X the lamb’s slaughter the butcher’s daughter the roastin’ fire is gettin’ hotter hog’s head calf’s liver life giver drinking from the garnet river I will live as long as I am able then throw myself on the butcher’s table x raw scrap dogs fed rendered fat on black bread who is strong enough to eat their dead X

The End Of Me decay and destruction are mine to court my soul is my own to condemn or set free Chorus this is the end of me this is the beginning in the death and the life in between there is nothing but need this is the end of me this is the (only) beginning the flame is never hot enough the dream is never bad enough the death is never pure enough to give me pause and we fall but is it we i am of us and we all must bleed but there is need and need alone and when i hunt i hunt alone and when i dine i dine alone and when i sleep i sleep alone Chorus there is black blood that stops hearts and there are songs that raise souls but nought and nihil are mine to court and mine to control there is nothing to know there is no meaning in murder there is love to take but only hate to nurture i am only the end of me i am only the beginning and nought is the word and nihil is the lesson i’ll not die for love but only for pleasure there is nothing to know and no meaning in murder i am the death of december and the scream of october i’ll be buried in the summer and rise again in the winter Chorus red is the flower and black is the pollen and prayer’s just a joke to those who have fallen and maybe i’m sick but I still have no reason mine is the strength and the voice that courts death and destruction there is love to be had it is mine to grab and crush beneath my boot i am not for want i am the truth and i am the end of me

infinite space infinite night promise of the stars promise of the night promise of the kiss promise of the body promise of the mouth promise of the word promise of the sky promise of the name promise of the night promise of shame promise of the scream promise of the light promise in dreams promise of the light promise in aching promise of the light promise of waking promise of night and the stars a drowning in our belief that they are drowning we are drowning in the belief that we are drowning we are living in the belief that we are living we are living by the grace of our dying we are burning by our belief in the fire we are crying at the sound of our crying we are breathing by the violence of our nature we are living by the grace of our dying we have no place in the universe and we have no place in time we could get lost in infinite space or the ballet of planets or the decay of suns we are the glory of impossible union we are the miracles of infinite possibility we are the sadness of the galaxy we are the death of improbability we are the war in the face of apathy we sing the dirges for the death of the orchids we sing on the threshold of infinite loss we make the music and we make the murder we make the children that will string us up we are the push and the pull we send our souls to melt in the crucible we are the ignorance in the face of the light we are the casualties of want and desire we are the kings and queens of infinite night X promise of thought promise of the light promise of rebellion promise of night promise of destruction promise of delight the promise of nothing makes us the kings and queens of infinite night X

An Ending Everybody’s looking for an ending An ending x3 Maybe it’s here in the weeds The weeds x3 Maybe it’s here in the trees The trees x3 Did I die a million deaths Did I regret each one Did I die alone Did I shy away from the light that was shone Everybody’s looking for and ending An ending x3 Maybe it’s in the sweat Or the skin Or the sin Or the bone Maybe it’s the razor or the rope Maybe the words of hope Will ease our passing Maybe it’s in the earth The earth x3 That will hold me like a lover And take me for all that I’m worth Everybody’s holding out their hands to touch To touch x3 Everybody dies in lust Everybody rises in hate Everybody screams Everybody tears their seams Maybe it’s here in dreams Your mother kissed your hand and you never woke again Maybe it’s in the mouth Or the lap Or the lung Maybe it’s in the loaded gun Maybe it’s here in your bed Maybe if I lie down in these weeds Maybe if I crawl on my knees Maybe if I fill these pages up with ink I’ll write a proper ending

You Will Be a Healer you are all wrapped up in white and your soul fights to survive you know that you can’t leave you know you can not stay all the muddy water in the world couldn’t wash this sin away you told ‘em that consumption would strike down Mary-Gage you know the reverend’s secret ill and that the Johnson’s daughter’d be born still you can’t stop the constant achin’ you think the apple in your chest was planted by satan it may be ripe with rot and filled up with beetles but you’ll do anything to save these folks you’ll swallow butcher knives and needles you lashed a switch across your back and kneeled upon the broken glass smashed your hands together and prayed your prayers so hard maybe the tongue inside your head was gifted by the lord you might not never know you might not never know you might lead this flock astray you’ve got this gift this curse and no one answers when you pray so you swallow a stone swallow a stone a stone so big and grey it’ll keep his voice out of your mouth if it can’t keep the thoughts away still they want your hands upon them and you know your touch must burn some folks need the burnin’ their stupid to the core some folks need the burnin’ it’s all that they long for you see all of the portents you see all of the signs you see all of the lust and avarice that floods their ugly minds so you swallow a stone swallow a stone a stone so big and grey it’ll keep his voice out of your mouth if it can’t keep the visions away you see each silly token and each commandment broken you can see the apples in their chests like yours they’re rotten, bruised and grey and if you’re the mouth of darkness or the mouth of light they’ll all burn anyway some folks need the burning their guilty to the core some folks need the burning it’s all that they long for so I say to you don’t choke on bone or knives or fat or stone let them all roll back their eyes let them all be stunned speak your truth and worry not where the message it comes from sometimes god will move your tongue other times the devil takes his turn so lay your hands upon them some folks are only fit to burn

My Brothers do not think me damned I am still a man and all men are my brothers yes all men are my brothers I’m from the land where all women are my daughters here the dirt is pregnant with the fat of my sacrifice here the wind is ripe with our songs we are not prisoners we are proud and strong we are the kings and queens of the east and there is always room for more at the feast we are the sons and the daughters of nod we are shameless and guiltless with no memory of god your faith is no currency here we bare the mark of defiance the angels are nothing to fear we won’t be controlled or compliant give me no pity my friend or you’ll soon meet your end because all men are my brothers yes all men are my brothers I ripped up the word plunged my hands in the dirt turned my back on the way of redemption and with my woman by me I turned my gaze to the east I slaughtered a beast and bathed in the fat that was rendered I slipped through the night plunged a spike in the dirt and knew that I was home forever come sit at my table or die at my hand because all men are my brothers yes all men are my brothers we are strong men we are vicious men we are all brother we are loving men we are flawed men we are all brothers we are covetous men we are murderous men we are all brothers we are good men we are ugly men we are all brothers we are good men X ? I am a good man I am an ugly man All men are my brothers