There is a stage that no one sees,
built from open arms and steady smiles
The audience, the world, they notice not
The Great Performer amongst them.

He hides his puppet behind curtains,
the curtains made of little things
like silence, shame, a flinch, a tug of sleeve
its screams drowned out by applause

When the mask slips and someone looks,
when light finds what the fabric hides,
the performer straightens, bows, and keeps the act;
a gentle smile—an apology

I cried
But no tears fell,
Frozen by the winter air

Bound by frost
Bound by guilt
Bound by darkness

It carried a lonely chill
That settled in my bones
Forever there

Just like me in my grave
Cradled in the arms of death
Why would I want to leave?

The Captain
taught a man to live
and live he did
for a night
till bitter snow
fell on his tongue
as he swallowed feelings on his tongue
his lips had kissed the summer's dream
a budding dream
chained down by blood
yet for a single shining breath
the world was his oyster
and the oyster was in his hands
and now remains so
forever

I always hated them--
how they left me behind the curtains,
worthless, unseen, forgotten

So when you told me
I was part of one,
shame flooded the courners of my soul

And yet, so did joy;
spreading like a warm fire.
Finally, a place where I belonged.

The greatest tragedy
Is that I'll keep loving you
Knowing you won't love me the same
But still hoping anyways

Faces I knew
Voices I heard
Cadence familiar
They were my world

Terrain has changed
Plants overgrown
Are we still friends?
I no longer know