Mirrors

You brought this on yourself The lack of a barrel forced into your mouths Proves your actions won't be without retribution Break down Bloodshed, a sign of weakness Just know you'll get what you deserve Who do you think that you are? Barring your teeth like the smile of the one with a blade in his sleeve The thorns that line your back are all it took to slit the arms that took you in To slit the arms that took you in Just who do you think that you are? Suicide king dying to be seen An image to build, cover you up The damage is done Just let them fight fight fight So they never have to face themselves Forty days, it will all be Forty days, it will all be over You'll vanish with the flood Forty days, it will all be over Forty days, vanish with the flood Bloodshed, a sign of weakness Just know you'll get what you deserve Who do you think that you are? Barring your teeth like the smile of the one with a blade in his sleeve The thorns that line your back are all it took to slit the arms that took you in To slit the arms that took you in Just who do you think that you are? Suicide king dying to be seen An image to build, cover you up The damage is done Just let them fight, fight, fight So they never have to face themselves Before you're too far gone What will it take to drop your arms and learn It's not too late Burdened with the weight of your disguise, you'll sink like a stone, sink like a stone And collapse from neglect with the rest of, with the rest of your unknowns Face yourself Face yourself Coward Coward you can't face yourself Coward you can't face yourself Coward will you face yourself? You know it never fit, so come on What will it take, to drop your arms and learn It's not too late for giving up and letting go, growing up Before you are, you're too far gone

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Breaking dawn will bring revenge We should know by now we're so sick It was building up and no one was watching We're running out of darkened corners To sweep the waste into In our distracted focus no one had a chance When we lined up at the edge, we were open wide Like fools waiting for a sign (Fall) It was a free fall An act of desperation Our backs against the wall (Fall) It was a free fall It was an act of desperation Down we go As we all went blind Like an answer to the call of an outstretched hand The hell we beckoned crept inside The vultures circling overhead Starving to pick the skeletons we leave On the eve of the end as the world around us burns (The ashes shall rain) Somehow we still beg, we beg Give us a sign Dawn brings revenge Dawn brings revenge Patience won't mend the broken Promise of something greater The cables wrapped around our throat Tonight pitch red cast over Senses adrift, I lay me down Plague wraps it's arms around me (Down we go) (Fall) It was a free fall An act of desperation Our backs against the wall (Fall) It was a free fall It was an act of desperation Down we go When we lined up at the edge, we were open wide Like fools waiting for a sign

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Forever reaching Our hopes and aspirations ground to dust I've fallen with my spirits Of withered hand and hope This hole will dig itself with minutes passing Reincarnate deliverance that was once possessed I've seen this in my dreams, in this day, reality But I'm, I'm wrapped around a time so far removed This weight bestowed on me today uplifting Now, together Now, we are one At peace in out disbelief The ties that bind are now threadbare It doesn't have to end to begin again It doesn't have to end to begin again I've seen this in my dreams, in this day, reality But I'm, I'm wrapped around a time so far removed This weight bestowed on me, today it's uplifting Now I, I fear no falter, there is no doubt We climb out from the wreck to live again Now, together Now, we are one Now, together Now, we are one At peace in our disbelief The ties that bind are now threadbare Take hold these words of fallen heroes Whose lives pave the way to our redemption Lest we forget These words of fallen heroes Whose lives pave the way to our redemption Lest we forget

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

The worst is over We went the fast way out You can see the marks left on my clothes From where she came, she came undone You want me to hurt like you, to shadow the pain Away with my sympathy And the comforts I abused Away with dishonesty And my manufactured truth I don't care I don't care, I just don't And winter came to hide the sun behind the gray And erase her What's done is done is done My warmth has gone Carried by the birds of fall I don't care I don't care, I just don't It doesn't feel like anything And winter came to hide the sun behind the gray And devastate her What's done is done is done

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

I surrender whole to one Night by night, day by day The blur of cities twisting us to severance Your static voice over a thousand satellite hours In chrysalis my darling Until our time I'll flood my eyes in light The road underfoot is certain to become the road behind One day I'll stay home One day I'll stay home One day I'll stay home One day I'll stay home The road underfoot is certain to become the road behind Confide in me, this is my promise This is and has to be Never fraction or ephemeral The gift of self, given completely The way I will be given to you From everything I've chosen to stray But never with contempt For every mile a moment missed My absence not in vain This choice is passion, this path is tension I feel the pressure clenching me This is now and not forever Until our time My ears will ring The road underfoot is certain to become the road behind One day I'll stay, one day I'll stay, one day I'll stay home One day I'll stay home One day I'll stay home Night by night, day by day Confide in me, this is my promise This is and has to be Never fraction or ephemeral The gift of self, given completely The way I will be given to you The way I will be given to you Until our time my ears will ring Until our time I'll flood my eyes

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Resist We've come too far to start this all again I've come too far to let you ruin me I'll walk hand in hand with your ghost Before I fall into your net, into your net again There's no turning back What can be said that I haven't already learned in silence? There's no turning back What can be done that you haven't already stained in violence? We are beyond repair In essence of letting go of what you try to defend Asking questions has you tangled in knots You can't untie a rope without both ends Frayed words lie with broken bones As broken dreams reside in broken homes Frayed words lie with broken bones As broken dreams reside in broken homes A witness to my actions of love and regret Those verses, my vengeance, I hope you're happy It's worth it to watch you choke on my words Choke on my words

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

My eyes eclipse as these stars constrict And swallow me whole Dislocate with your pretentious hands Reciprocate through seeds of change Deviate with feet of innocence, perceived through premonition Times have changed But still these words, your words remain My eyes eclipse Now I'm reduced to holding onto every regret And the night sky has taken hold of me Through clouds so black A silhouette projects catastrophe Your sky will fall Fugitive night, the dawn will break True paths are rarely unveiled by means of shadows cast This is the only way for me to reach behind this facade Dissonance, unstable frequencies Reiterate through sleight of hand Corrosion, conviction slips away Perceived through premonition Time have changed But still these words, your words remain With the night sky, you've lost your hold on me Your hands so black A silhouette projects catastrophe Your sky will fall Your sky will fall Take the tragedy you've earned Asphyxiate Asphyxiate Suffocate Suffocate

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

There is no one on the air I chase parading ghosts in burning memory Through empty shells of stolen moments As all the stains are reassuring us That they happened Poring over the fragments found, lost in portrayal Reflected back unto ourselves I've been reduced to a faded impression Attention paid, critical These elements, they fail to align I realize this is passing Do they become something more Under the surface of an image paralyzed As we become nothing Spectral trails echo on the air Aperture set Projected whispers through empty shells of stolen moments pouring over Look back, our illusion is the abstract trail of time behind Look back, our illusion is the abstract trail of time behind Trail of time behind And I, I give myself to the truth Flesh fed to the piranhas Liar's blood, it falls into water Where only the water survives I'll stare into my own false eyes And watch the life in them die The past will lay, will lay dead When the present is slain by the sword of eyes Watch these words run silent, run deep, run together You can't have it back The past will lay, will lay dead When the present is slain by the sword of eyes Watch these words run silent, run deep, run together You can't have it back You can never have it back

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Butcher Give us all you've got Give us anything at all Throw everything that's real Into this bottomless abyss Butcher Butcher How much will you consume and how much will you take away? How much is too much? How much is too much? Take away How much is too much? How much is too much? Take away How much is too much? How much is too much? Take away How much is too much? How much is too much? How much is too much? How much is too much?

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Through churning waters and midnight skies This ship has sailed one too many times To reach a land, reach a land of dreams Where no sole nor soul has set Where footprints leave no name Time and time again, time and time again this attempt has failed You were my anchor You were my anchor And I am chained to everything I tried to leave behind I am chained to everything I tried to leave behind I am chained to everything I tried to leave behind Through heartfelt waters and crystal skies We won't prevail Time and time again this ship has sailed And time and time again this attempt has failed My attempts have failed You were my anchor You were my anchor These eyes, they long for light So I can see the truth that lies You always told me this ship would never sail But I will be washed away With all my strength I'll blow this sail With all my strength I'll wash away With all my strength I'll wash away These eyes, they long for light So I can see the truth that lies I will be washed away

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026

Lose control You find yourself pulling our eyes from the room Attention, your addiction It's destroying everything, this steadfast fixation Still, my satisfaction is found in your submissive hands Beautiful, the life you drove through me Through this wall of glass Piercing rays fueled the radiance in your eyes Pulling me closer Defying all reason Until a night so disconnecting stole it away And now These screams do nothing but fasten you To this prison I designed Lose control Find yourself Lose control To be destroyed is a choice you'll have to make To be destroyed is a choice you'll have to make Violent, the life you drove through me Through this wall of glass Piercing rays fueled the radiance in your eyes Pulling me closer Defying all reason Let it out Shed this skin Break away Denial is catching up Illusion is caving in Exactly what did you expect? The harm is in hiding Knowing only your simplicity Knowing nothing Upon the great divide You see it your own way No wisdom across the shallow glass A captive God You look over a deadened face Features sink like a skull So familiar, yet so far away I see now I see now There is a choice to make There is a choice to make We could be anyone I see now We turn over We redefine this reflection This is a need that we learn like a new limb There is a choice to make There is a choice to make We will lie in our graves A hall of mirrors opens into A room full of me I could be anyone, we could be anyone There is a choice to make There is a choice to make I see now We turn over We redefine this reflection There is a choice to make There is a choice to make We will lie in our graves

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 22, 2026