Uncle Sae in the Land of the Dead

[Intro]
Gravel in the lungs
Ash under the tongue
Gates made of bone
Swing open
Swing open

[Verse 1]
Uncle Sae walks slow
Boot prints burn in the snow
Lantern full of writhing flies
Warm glow in a kingdom of dry eyes
Grinning skulls lean in to hear
Stories from a breathing seer
Coffee steam above his cup
In a hall where the clocks gave up

[Chorus]
Uncle Sae
Life of the living
In the land of the dead
Still giving
End of the road
Breath won’t bend
Life is not lost at the end
Uncle Sae
Calmly treading
Through the grave-dust path he’s heading
Life is alive
Where the worms are fed
Peacefully bright in the land of the dead

[Verse 2]
Children of plague tug his coat
Tiny hands made of smoke
He knits them names with fraying thread
Puts them on like crowns of red
Tombstones lean like drunken teeth
He plants wildflowers underneath
Roots curl through the rotting boards
Pull green veins out of the morgue

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Crow wings beat like drums of war
But he just rocks on a splintered porch
Sips that heat
Stares down the void
Says
“This is home
Not destroyed”
Road ran out
But he stayed awake
Heart still pounds in a canyon of snakes
Dead all around
Yet his pulse won’t fade
Living ember in a fossil cage

[Chorus]