House on Fire - Assemblage 23

Sifting through the ashes

With unsteady hands

Searching for the remnants

Of a broken man

A history of hollow lives

And low ideals

A backlog of wrongdoing

We can never conceal

I stand up

And walk away from the dross

Towards the doorway

Of our mutual and harrowing loss

The only way I know

To shake myself of this curse

Is to bring myself to something

That is measurably worse

I sought refuge in a house on fire

I took shelter in a wall of flame

I built a prison in my own subconscious

There’s nothing else left

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left

Emerging from the wreckage

Of a life that once was

Confounded by the damage

My own psyche does

I bear the scars

Of an insufferable will

And the tyrannical reign

It threatens to instill

Some seek control

By grabbing hold of their lives

In a futile attempt

To help themselves survive

I dig myself

Into a much deeper hole

Running from a fate

That I can never control

I sought refuge in a house on fire

I took shelter in a wall of flame

I built a prison in my own subconscious

There’s nothing else left

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left

I woke up

In a column of ash

While the world came down

In a horrible crash

I was naive

For ever wanting this much

Using self-deception

As my only crutch

Footsteps diverge

From the path they once walked

Words are eclipsed

By the language they talked

Actions betrayed

By promises broken

Flames consume intentions

Best left unspoken

I sought refuge in a house on fire

I took shelter in a wall of flame

I built a prison in my own subconscious

There’s nothing else left

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left to blame

Nothing else left