Glitchbreath Panic

The trees woke up when the moon

went black Little teeth in

the branches, scratching

at my

back Toy

keys twitching in a dead child’s room Plink-plink,

heartbeat,

make the

darkness bloom

I ran through the static where the wet roots shine

Every blue-black shadow had a voice like mine Witches in the canopy,

coughing up the rain They stitched my name to thunder,

then they sang it back again The forest grew antennas,

the moss began to glow A thousand tiny red eyes watched me

go My lungs were full of winter,

my hands were full of flame I cried into the underbrush and

no one came

Hear that little piano breathing in the dark One note for every

bruise, one spark for every spark If the wolves are coming,

let them learn my sound I have been beneath the earth,

but I am not

underground

On the night of the howling wolves,

I was crying Crying while the black sky opened wide All their

voices said, “You’re dying” I said,

“Not tonight, not tonight” Let the sub-bass split the soil below me

Let the dead leaves rise and testify If the whole wild world

comes down to know me I will howl until the fear runs

dry

The witch choir wore my face in a ring of violet fire

Every growl became a wire,

every wire climbed higher I saw my sorrow running with a blade

between its teeth It dragged a crown of broken toys and laid

it at my feet The moon was just a monitor,

flickering white and green The stars were little errors in a corrupted

dream I wanted to disappear,

dissolve into the ground But the piano found my pulse and turned

it into sound

Breathe in—glitch Breathe out—bite No more hiding from the night

Hands up—roots Eyes shut—bright Make the terror obey the light

Cry, little creature, cry

Let the red moon multiply Bend,

little circuit, bend Break the spell and start again

On the night of the howling wolves,

I was crying Crying while the black sky opened wide All their

voices said, “You’re dying” I said,

“Not tonight,

not tonight” Let the sub-bass split the soil below me Let the

dead leaves rise and testify If the whole wild world comes down

to know me I will howl until the fear runs dry

I was soft as a whisper,

I was easy to break Then the roots took my sorrow and

taught it to shake Every tear was a signal,

every sob was a flare Now the wolves in the treeline are

answering there Do you hear me?

Do you hear me?

I am still here

I am still here

On the night of the howling wolves,

I was crying Now I’m crying like a siren in the sky

All the dark things that came to find me

Found a brighter kind

of night Let the toy keys gnash,

let the wild code thunder Let the witch choir tear the clouds

apart If the whole dead forest pulls me under I will beat

its roots with my heart Plink-plink,

the little

machine is breathing Low-low,

the buried

bass is seething Howl-howl,

let the distant mountains know

I was crying in the dark— Now I make

the dark echo.