when i was born it took three nurses to get the doctor to stop hitting me

it wasn’t until they sprinkled holy water on me that i started to cry

a bellowing roar that shook the entire hospital

my mother’s soul died on the delivery table

they called it at thirteen hundred hours and thirteen minutes

and each nurse got a streak of pure white through her hair

the statue of the virgin mother stepped off the pulpit and began turning tricks in the alleyway

bloody tears, a trail down the hall behind her

and through it all i still tried to find the good inside

i was looking in the wrong place

so i opened up a shop and sold my thoughts

a penny a piece

like the old penny dreadfuls they sold to scare the children

but tailored to frighten away any that looked behind the curtain

always found more solace in the bottom of a bottle than the end of a verse

in the corpse swaying in the hanging tree than the brush strokes of a master

as i stare into the mirror it shatters until i all i can do is breathe in the dust

fill my lungs with the specks and spew the red mist of a dying dream onto the wall

the number thirteen written in black on my leg

burnt into my soul by the fiery brand of god herself

i leave misery and broken hearts as i stomp through the city heedless of buildings as they topple around me

uncaring, unaware that other’s have made their lives here

the atrophied wings on my back lend a bounce to my step

the the writhing mess on the bottom of my shoes nothing but bubblegum

the entrails sticking with every step making a wet sucking sound like a chest wound

when i die it will take a hordes of demons to wrestle my soul through those blackened gates

and i plan on taking over once i arrive

hell doesn’t want me and heaven can’t abide me, love avoids me and trouble is my wake up call

i’m not the second coming, but that is just me warming you up for a trip to paradise by well of down below

thirteen times i call you

thirteen times you’ll come

thirteen angels have already fallen

there’ll be plenty more before i’m done