Veils

Can you not escape the face?
That glowing haunted stare
Take the way that's caked with filth
A far less travelled path
Veils of bygone grief and death

To deflect the gaze
The sickening sight
THere is no manner learned
From any teacher from any source
From any know-it-all
From any keeper, from any mouth
From anyone you know
Vials of promised sun

Sapped of life when splendor brims a thimble
Thirst to the point of madness
To each his own demise
(And) when the oldest soul
Pushes through your flesh
And paints your lids white
Submit to more than just the lure
Of the hands that held you tight
So stop everything an bring on nothing

Content to sleep
In filth or feathers
(So stop everything and bring on nothing)
A shiftless shapeless mass
What started out like any other
Was twisted into this

Part of the living, part of the dying
Though blood soaks through your soles
And gusts lash your skin
Continue on your way
To a place called home