Redemption - As I Lay Dying

I. Arrivals

October's a rare month for boys
When life is simple, pure and sweet.
And the foolish youth can overlook
The wolf outside the door.

Come hear a tale of Halloween
And one October not long past,
Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway
Would never be quite so young anymore.

Fury, the seller of lightning rods,
Foretells the coming storm.
The light's on in the library
Beneath the blackening sky.

Charles Halloway sits deep inside
Surrounded by his books.
A serious, lonely and sad old man
Whose youth has passed him by.

A sinister black train
Pulls through the countryside.
Stops just outside of town,
Dark's carnivals arrived.

Jim and Will, the librarians son,
Take to the streets at night.
The smell of cotton candy seems
To linger on the wind.

A carnival flyer flutters
Through the cool October air,
Promising all hopes and dreams
To those who dare to venture in.

And Jim and Will conspire
To ride the carousel.
Could set their souls afire,
Could send them straight to Hell.

II. Torments

Far away but much too close for comfort
Carnival's calliope is playing.
Halloway sits in the darkened library,
Thinking dark thoughts.

Son at home he doesn't really know,
Fifty-four years seems so very old.
Throws the carnival's ad in the fire,
The flames grow higher.

Long after midnight, children awake,
Journeys await them, chances to take.
Run through the streets to the carnival
Grounds, hoping to ride the merry-go-round.

3 A.M. is midnight for the soul,
Never is a man so close to death.
The hour of temptation is at hand,
Souls are damned.

What's the purpose of a life of virtue?
What you don't know certainly can hurt you.
Every step he made he second-guessed
Life of regret.

Ride's out of order, no one's around,
Hardly a whisper, hardly a sound.
Thinking that they're alone but they're not,
Gloved hands encircle, now they are caught.

III: The Carnival

Late that night the boys returned,
Watched the carousel spin around.
Turning old man into young,
Bringing darkness to town.

Carousel turns and turns,
Years can scorch and time can burn.
Dark's accomplice, age reversed,
Now becomes a boy accursed.

Jim and Will stumble in
To this whirling world of sin.
Forward spins the carousel,
Cooger ages, dies and goes to Hell.

Mister Dark knows at once
That the boys have seen too much.
As they call for the police
He and the witch wait for their
Plan to be unleashed.

Boys return with the law,
Try to tell them what they saw.
The witch throws her voice and the old,
Dead man seems to come to life again.

The ruse has worked, no one believes
The tales of what the boys have seen.
The witch locks eyes, they fear her most,
She wishes them a "short, sad life for both!"

IV: Pursuits

Late that night the witch
Takes to the sky above the town,
Searching for the boys who know
The secret of the carousel.

A black parade of circus freaks
Led by Mister Dark, scours every
Street for the boys to drag
Them down to Hell.

The boys have seen too much and now
Their death will be their silence,
The freaks have caskets fashioned
For the little boys who hide.

And Mister Dark halts the
Procession, seeing the librarian.
He asks him who the boys are,
Filled with rage as the old man lies.

V: The Autumn People

Late that night inside the town's old library,
Circled by arcane and evil books
Scouring them for any hint of knowledge.
Charles, Jim and Will!

A father's son who doesn't know his dad,
Suddenly he wishes that he had as
He sees that this old lonely man
Could be the only hope they have.

The Carnival has been here many times,
Its history is found between the lines.
Comes by every forty years or so
Since more than two hundred years ago.

They feast upon the sins and fears of men,
Promise you just what you want and then.
When they're through they'll steal your
Very soul, entomb you in their sideshow.

And as the church bell rings
They hear the opening door,
The boys hide for their lives
As Mister Dark arrives.

VI: Temptations

Temptation tearing at his soul
To take a second chance, to right
The wrongs to live again.

No more regrets,
No more living as a man
To old to know his son.

Resistance, he turns the offer down
Not willing to exchange his soul
For what he wants the most.

Mister Dark crushes Charles' hand
And tells the witch to give the man
A taste of precious death.

Hear your breathing,
Old man...
Feel your hurt.
Old man...
See you're bleeding,
Old man...
Stop your heart.

VII: Confrontations

Halloway, ten lifetimes closer to death,
Somehow finding the courage to laugh.
Laughter searing the witch's face,
Laughter burning her wicked soul.

Standing, knowing he's beaten her back.
Smiling, knowing the time is now.
Striding purposefully into the street,
Knowing that he can save them somehow.

Mister Dark leads the boys into the streets,
Will to be made into a toy for freaks.
Nightshade to be his partner for life
After the carnival's over tonight.

Carnival, one last attraction to see!
Shoot the witch, gypsy who cannot die!
Mister Dark gazes out over the crowd for
Avolunteer, someone to give it a try.

Halloway calls out from deep in the crowd,
Mister Dark cannot believe his eyes.
Halloway's good hand picks up the gun
To steady it he calls for the help of his son.

VIII: Departures

Far away, trapped in the mirror maze,
The whole town calls his name.
And Will awakes the spell the dust
Witch placed upon his head.

Halloway, father and son standing as one
As Mister Dark gives them the bullet and
Charles carves into a crescent moon.

Mister Dark stares at the bullet,
He doesn't yet understand the
Meaning of what Charles has done,
So he let's the game proceed.

But the moon he carved isn't a moon at all,
It's his smile the bullet carries and this
Totem finds it's way to the witch's heart.

The gun cracks
And the Witch knows
This and now is dead!

Chaos spreads, and Charles and Will
Run to the maze to rescue Jim.
Charles walks in, confronted by
Reflections of a million ancient men.

Staring back and making him older,
Alifetime full of regrets.
A man who never knew his son,
A man whose deeds were never done.

Halloway rises from the
Hall of shattered mirrors,
He picks up his son and runs with
Him across the carnival grounds.

Nightshade, still upon the carousel,
Charles and Will help him down.
Another boy appears saying:
"Mister Dark's gone and the
Four of us must give chase."

Halloway looks at the strange young boy,
He sees him for what he is.
Mister Dark made younger again by the
Power of the carousel.

Charles picks the boy up,
Holds him close and feels his hatred.
And with grave determination lets his
Heart fill with love for his life and his son.

And returns the boy's hate with this
Love and it courses through Dark's
Young body, and he withers and dies.

As the carnival tents
Disappears, the three of them
Spring laughing back to town.
Two boys and one middle-aged man
No longer quite so old as he thought.

Far away but much too
Close for comfort,
Far away but much too
Close for comfort.

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As I lay dying
I saw the eyes,
The eyes of God.
Thy kingdom come!

A force so strong,
Pulled me along
As I lay dying.

As I lay dying
I laughed as I had
Never laughed before.

At circumstance
And the evened score,
As I lay dying.

As I lay dying I touched
The air, felt the chill,
The blinding stare of
My mind's eye,

Began to cry
As I lay dying.

As I lay dying
I felt so strange,
Although I bleed
I feel no pain.

And just like
Life it seems insane,
But now I'm dying.

Look at your soul in the mirror,
Every choice you've made
Is etched upon its face.

Epitaph carved by your actions,
Are we searching for a different
State of grace?

No one is sure of the answer,
Is this just a waiting room
For something else?

How can you measure life?
Is it something we must
Lose to find ourselves?

Will it just go on
After I am gone?
I saw above my Heaven!

And beneath as well
The threat of Hell.
Will my sins be forgiven?

Will it just go on
After I am gone?
I saw above my Heaven!

And beneath as well
The threat of Hell.
Will my sins be forgiven?

Look at your soul in the mirror,
Every choice you've made
Is etched upon its face.

Epitaph carved by your actions,
Are we searching for a different
State of grace?

No one is sure of the answer,
Is this just a waiting room
For something else?

How can you measure life?
Is it something we must
Lose to find ourselves?

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Peter and Mary driving cross-country,
Entering Desperation, Nevada.
Red lights flash and their destiny changes
As the patrol car pulls behind them.

Collie Etrangian, arm of the law,
Stops them and searches the back of their car
There in the trunk some drugs in a bag,
And they find themselves arrested.

Pulled them over
To the side of the road
With a body that's bloated
And bursting, too old.

"We'll get this sorted
Out in Desperation, Tak!"

Hatred is burning under his skin,
And an evil power that eats from within.
He bleeds from his eyes as he drives them by,
The biggest mine in North America.

Technology working
Anew in the depths,
The soul of the mine
Now disturbed from its rest.

Answers will be
Found in Desperation!

There's a little dead girl lying on the steps of the jail,
And Collie guns down Peter as he stares her in the eyes
The Carver family hears the shot from the cell,
And wonders why their daughter had to die.

Ralph and Ellie Carter,
And their son David too
Staring from within the cell
Like animals in a Zoo.

Something brought them
Here to Desperation.

With them is Tom,
The only one from the town.
His alcoholic's spirit is
Beaten and worn down.

And Mary joins this
Group in Desperation.

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Years of writing books
Long behind him now.
A nihilistic confidence
And a smile upon his face.

Johnny Marinville and his
Harley through the desert,
One last ride to make him
Feel young again.

He came back from Vietnam,
Only one to escape the bomb
That tore apart the bar in which
He drank with his friends.

Living with the question of
Why he was the sole survivor,
Fighting the dreams that plague him
And wondering when they'll end.

This cynic smiles and feels the wind
As he speeds by the policeman on the road.
He stopped and beaten, thrown in the cell
With the others the bleeding cop has found.

Collie takes the one,
The boy's mom Ellie and
Drags her screaming away.

Young David prays to the God he found
As his friend run-down lay dying in his arms.
And with his faith, the boys escapes,
And frees the desert's other captives.

The stumble across
David's dead sister,
And they bury her with
Tears in their eyes.

Only a boy, only a man
Drawn together in God's plan.
In the desert purposes emerge,
All are here to love and serve.

All across this desert town they
See the butchered bodies of the dead.
What could have caused this Hell on Earth,
Just what evil made this madness happen?

And even as they hide
Tak returns, possessing
Now a different body.

Only a boy, only a man
Drawn together in God's plan.
In the desert purposes emerge,
All are here to love and serve.

Only a boy, only a man
Drawn together in God's plan.
In the desert purposes emerge,
All are here to love and serve.

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Hiding in the theater, listening to Tom,
Telling whitewashed lies about the China Pit.
Whatever has happened, started when they opened it
And brought out the carvings from the deepest part.

David leaves the others
And falls asleep while praying,
A vision of sister then appears to him.

Sent by God to show him the
Truth of what transpired and
What the few survivors have to do.

The Chinese came and were made slaves,
Deep in the mine they broke through
To the Pirin Moh, the home of Tak,
The Heart of the Unformed.

The Red Eye of Ini, where its evil lies,
Smoke from it and drove the men mad.
And they murdered each other, except for two
Brothers who caused the cave-in as they escaped.

Blamed for the cave in and hung by the town,
But Tak is one of them and swore his revenge.
A hundred years later the mine is reopened
And the madness begins again.

Bodies wear out but
The souls must survive,
Evil and good are eternal.

The path of the truth
Is much crueler than lies,
But it sacrifice us in the end.

Mary hears a voice and goes to seek it out,
She thinks she hears Ellen Carver somewhere near.
But Ellen's rotting body is the vessel now for Tak
Who captures her and takes her back to the mine.

David explains the truth to the others,
Tak from the well of souls, another dimension.
Took Collie's body, the evil awakened and now
They must destroy this affront to God.

Bodies wear out but
The souls must survive,
Evil and good are eternal.

The path of the truth
Is much crueler than lies,
But it sacrifice us in the end.

Johnny now recalls
What really happened in Nam,
Tak was in the Vietcong
That planned the bomb.

Could have warned the others were
He less concerned with stealth,
But he sprinted from the building
And he only saved himself.

Deep inside the author knows
The boy is right and their path is clear.
He finds a God he never knew,
Closes his eyes and prays.

Bodies wear out but
The souls must survive,
Evil and good are eternal.

The path of the truth
Is much crueler than lies,
But it sacrifice us in the end.

Bodies wear out but
The souls must survive,
Evil and good are eternal.

The path of the truth
Is much crueler than lies,
But it sacrifice us in the end.

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Johnny knows why he
Was spared in Vietnam,
God has a reason for
His sacrifice.

Johnny knows David thinks
It all will fall on him,
But the message is clear
And he knows he has a purpose.

The writer descends into the heart of the mine,
Down to the bottom of the well of souls.
Falling through darkness, bloodied and broken,
He spreads the explosives as death takes hold.

Johnny stands a final time
As his life slips away,
Tak screams in anger and
Commands that he stop.

But the heart of the unformed
Can no longer sway him and he
Finishes his life's last task.

God can be everything,
God can be cruel, sometimes
He makes us live.

Carrying a burden
For thirty three years,
They are no longer his
Sins to forgive.

With the smoke of the
Ini rising up in the sky,
Destroyed by the power of daylight.

The four survivors leave
The nightmare behind them
And head toward the open highway.

In the back of the car
Sits a folder of photos,
Materialized out of nowhere.

The handwritten label says
They're from David's school but
The writing is in Johnny's hand.

Two different lives somehow intertwined,
Two vantage points of a parallax view.
Heaven and Earth somehow connected
Giving a glimpse of the eternal truth.

As he opened the folder
And pulls out the picture,
Young David Carver's astonished.

The picture's of Johnny
And David's dead sister,
Although they have never met.

In the picture they're
Standing on the very street
Where David's friend Brian
Lay dying in his arms.

Written at their feet
Are the words "First John 4/8",
And Mary asks David what it means.

God is Love!

God can be everything,
God can be cruel, sometimes
He makes us live.

Carrying a burden
For thirty three years,
They are no longer his
Sins to forgive.

God is Love!

God can be everything,
God can be cruel, sometimes
He makes us live.

Carrying a burden
For thirty three years,
They are no longer his
Sins to forgive.

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When we enter its domain will the
Answers follow or will the wind and
Rain predict tomorrow or will they
Combine and dictate our fears?

Feeding our minds the violence here,
We can end the apathy nocturnal.

When we enter the darkness will our heart
Lead the way in the land of thoughtless or
Will you just fan the flames or will they
Combine and dictate our fears?

Feeding our minds the violence here!

We can end the apathy nocturnal!

We can end the apathy nocturnal,
The blackest night before the dawn.

Nocturnal!

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There's a kid who sees the world,
A selfish kid, a smart kid, a good kid.
By his own means he knew the price of life,
By his own means he knew the price for you.

He must reveal it now but to who?

A cluttered world, a damaged world,
A lost world he lives in, he stammers
For the door but it is shut.

Get out of the bars young one,
Reach for the stars young one,
Reach for the stars and be free.

Seek shelter in voices
You hear in the night,
Rid yourself of the world
That surrounds you.

They don't care,
Now you should go!
Seek to find all that is,
Reach high for life.

"I'll search for answer
And I'll search for friend,
And I'll search for you
Until I'm gone.

Now I must go be free."

Climb towards the sun and
Burn your fingers on life,
If you're lucky you'll burn
Your body and soul.

Remember the dreams,
Remember the visions,
Remember the morals
And values you had.

And never forget
The view from above!

"Shatter me true until
I'm gone and alone,
Heal me until I'm whole."

See her lying there in the shade
Listening to the sounds of the green.
Wishing, waiting, wanting so bad!

She seeks the knowledge
Of the dream you once had,
And wonders if you can
Recall that day.

You stood in the park
While it got dark and
Conversed among the
Souls of the dead.

Among the souls of the dead!

One hundred billion people
Sifting through the sands,
Looking for love and
Searching for truth.

How misguided they've
Become since their youth,
Become since their youth.

Twisted and rotting
And smelling of death,
Their minds lie wasted
And yearning for breath.

And wanting and wanting some air,
They crumble and fall onto
The ground in despair.

And the Gods look from the Heavens,
And the men look from their graves,
And the Gods cry "Damn!" and a
Light flashes forth.

Silence is fallen
All over the land,
And a black void settles
Over the night.

From the filth and the blood
And the crowd does emerge an
Angry young man with a poem in hand.

A prayer in his head,
A blessing in heart
And an answer to all on
The tip of his tongue.

"Let the smoke clear,
Look upwards my friends.
See the beginning of life,
See life's tragic ends.

And never forget the
Boys who have died for
A cause not their own
But of the wise."

We still survive but the sun
Has been lost and it falls to blaze,
Lost in pollution's excretion of haze.

Individuals do emerge
But so few and apart,
They are unseen by the
Evil and stark.

And the landscape that bears
The immortals who share,
Who give of themselves
And receive only care.

The care of one hundred
Trillion people in space,
And the care of one hundred
Billion who live on the place.

The ones far out and
The ones who discover
Are the ones who inspire
A man and his lover.

From the dawn of time
To the reaches of space
Companionship and trust
Are the keys to fate.

We want to fear
All of the knowledge
That we lust.

Why do we work?
Why do we play?
Why do we kill?
Why do we live?

I want to be happy
And I want to know sad,
I want to have knowledge
And I want to be dumb.

I wish for the day,
And it will come that
I know all the answers.

And I know what to be,
And I know what to search for,
And I know where to achieve.

And there it shall lie
My corpse in the gutter
With knowledge and love,
And the taste of the better.

Looking through the window to space!

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