Buried Serrations

The

house keeps breathing after I sleep A

cracked

piano

counts

my teeth Soft

strings crawl under the floor

I turn

the latch, it asks for more (ahhhh)

Mother nailed the mirrors to the wall So nothing else could climb

inside

I hear my name in water pipes And scrape it clean with

candlelight The basement hums a lullaby The stairs bend back beneath my

feet I keep a list of every door That opens when nobody

speaks

Count down the cracks in the ceiling

One for the lie,

two for the stain

Something is wearing my breathing

Something is learning my name

Do not open the room in me

Do not look where the walls have eyes

I am the bruise that refused to heal

I am awake when the daylight dies Drag me down,

down, down Where the cold hands sing Drag me down,

down, down Till I feel nothing

(ahhhh) Down, down, down (yeah)

The cold hands sing

My bedframe ticks like insect legs The hallway folds into a grin

I fed my fear beneath the sink Now it has learned to

wear my skin A blackened hymn behind my ribs Repeats until my

jaw goes numb I smile for pictures in the hall And scratch

the faces off with my thumb

Cut the light

Lock the frame

Bite the wire

Bless the stain

Cut the light

Lock the frame

I am not alone

I am not the same

I found a door inside my chest

It opened inward, wet with rust

A choir of teeth began to pray And every prayer sounded like

us (ahhhh)

Do not open the room in me

Do not look where the walls have eyes

I am the bruise that refused to heal I am awake when

the daylight dies Drag me down,

down, down Where the cold hands sing Drag me down,

down, down Till I feel nothing

Do not open the room in me I hear it breathing under

my name

The latch turns once

The floorboards breathe My name goes quiet

But not beneath (ahhhh)