In the earliest hours of the morning, no I haven't made my way to bed
Light creeps through the shutters, the honesty of day something I just can't bear to see yet
Disappear under the covers, whispering esoteric secrets with a flashlight under the sheets
Laughing like kids, going story for story as an omission of vulnerable deceit
If someone looked in the tent, they'd see one against none
Just the silhouette of my soul inventing another figment of my imagination, a new tale my ghost has spun
Furiously packing my suitcase but I haven't got anywhere to go
Darkness begins to engulf me now, swallowing my shadow whole
He's an old friend of mine, just a visitor from the dark side of the moon
Obsessively loyal, indulgent of my antics, serves my every desire on a silver spoon
He listens with rapt attention, always agreeing with exactly who I choose as the villains
Entertains my endless monologues, appeases my unexpected addictions
A walking dictionary who helps me come up with words to rhyme
Viciously agrees that I write my best when he's back in my life
I thought I left him at home but over a coffee confessional, my brother says I don't seem the same
I may have even heard him if it wasn't for the rampant band playing wretched melodies in my brain
A slowly enchanting cacophony, notes full of trouble and intrigue
Almost dared the nearest stranger to cut my skin just to see if I would bleed
Then I smile at a friend only to dissipate into smoke when I'm right in front of them
Spending all my time in a faraway land to which I've never been
On the corner of first and ask me anything, I can't promise I'll reveal anything true
You'd need to crawl through thorns and sail through storms to find even the smallest of clues
My body is lying right next to you, but I promise my mind has been walking along another road
Dreaming in another language that I unintentionally wrote in the most untraceable of codes
In other simulations, I wonder if this body is even mine in all of them
Then again, is it really only mine in the current reality I'm living in?
Shared with a world ravaged by unsolicited opinions and this world always wants more
Begging for you to give everything you have until you're used up, the cover of yesterday's lore
Paint my face even though it's merely the luggage that transports my mind
In hopes rosy cheeks and a pretty smile will deceive someone into thinking I'm sweet and kind
Shards of glass stuck in my throat, everything's coming out like a screech
Claw marks embedded so deeply on anything that comes near, my searing touch that of a leech
The hero's costume is tattered, hung in the back of the closet for a Halloween some other year
Exhausted from my performance, I bow in front of critics who used to be fans that chanted my cheers
Dressed in my finest silk for a residency at the most underground place in town
A mirror house spider webbed into a maze, a confusion of sound
And when I leave, I always take the back door out
To avoid the voices of questions about the moral complexities I've espoused
I want to curl up with coffee, a good book, and who I've always been
A serpent slithering upon the forest floor, a snake in the shape of your best friend