Death is a mask

Sewn into the skin

It covers the face

So the mouth never wins

 

Death isn't what kills

It’s the plug that does it

Whether you drown in your words

Or spit fire at dozens

 

The mask is the start

It’s the silence that ends

It’s when the damn breaks

And flows the pain shepherds tend

 

When death first touches your skin

The body goes into shock

Defenses kick in

Protecting the heart in lock

 

Fighting with dark lines

Written in your red

Piles of pills

Building fog in your head

 

Death wears you like clothes

Silently screaming truth

Yet still outside it’s quiet

Once he’s inside you

 

Organs can try

And others certainly fail

They’ll pump you with poison

Feeble attempts to lift the veil

 

So talk all you want

That mask is still there

Vying for the time

When it can take you to chair

 

Sometimes it rips

Small chunks at a time

So that you can start speaking,

But still strangled with lies

 

Paying with piles

Of your own silver and gold

To bill for the walls

That hide mistakes of old

 

Eruptions of magma

Permeate the people

Hiding from the victims

By white gown,

Clover,

And steeple

 

Pray and keep preying

Don’t eat and medicate

You can’t take it off

This mask is your fate

 

Collect all the rips

To feed your little lies

Holding them closely

To lay comfortably on railroad ties

 

When the tracks start to scar

When the rope’s being tied

When the water gets closer

When idle, the car lies

 

That’s when you know

That this mask has had it’s fun

It’s not your fault

What’s done is done is done

 

Still, don’t be afraid

The mask will go soon

Death is a mirror

Death

has become

you.