Fex Urbis Lex Orbis

Something big and bright Looms outside my window Choked with promise Smother in hope Days plod on like machines of ceaseless ruin Lost in a forest of haunted buildings I'm the feeble crack of light That shines in spite of all I'm held in place by a fragile base I'm the feeble crack of light That shines in spite of all I'll rest in denial I'll hide here for a while With each sundown comes sickness With each sunrise surrender And still they come deaf and dumb Days of incessant woe THe walk is paved in shame The cement blocks and common sense The lowly steep in mockery The exalted drained all our strength

Submitted by Pestilence — Apr 25, 2025

The voice has splintered to a rasp From broken words of waste It cast forth illusions Of a life without mistakes It told the worst tale ever told And spoke of better days The truth be told as I grow old A chronology of decay A piece of mind unhinged this time The doors I've left behind To lie and wait for an escape Before it is too late Wander alone through the hours And the neverending wait A shadow thrown across a face A warped forgotten haggard shape Cast on a heap of wounded birds Their wings hang broken like these words Broken shards of life scattered by the wind Between each myth is a sheltered place A place of no regret Sanctum refuge But you can only stay for so long Before you stay forever In fever, in death A piece of mind unhinged this time The truth be told as I grow old And still I wait though it's too late Wave the short-lived farewell Return to an unkempt shell And finally to show your face

Submitted by Finntroll — Apr 25, 2025

Can you not escape the face? That glowing haunted stare Take the way that's caked with filth A far less travelled path Veils of bygone grief and death To deflect the gaze The sickening sight THere is no manner learned From any teacher from any source From any know-it-all From any keeper, from any mouth From anyone you know Vials of promised sun Sapped of life when splendor brims a thimble Thirst to the point of madness To each his own demise (And) when the oldest soul Pushes through your flesh And paints your lids white Submit to more than just the lure Of the hands that held you tight So stop everything an bring on nothing Content to sleep In filth or feathers (So stop everything and bring on nothing) A shiftless shapeless mass What started out like any other Was twisted into this Part of the living, part of the dying Though blood soaks through your soles And gusts lash your skin Continue on your way To a place called home

Submitted by johnmansley — Apr 25, 2025

Again it's time to realize Care is no longer there Fret that consumed every cell Dissolved into the air THe throng of mutterings ends today Forfeit all attempts Charms fade and gardens grey Ignore their waning, dying scent No elation sent No unmatched soul will be sought Silence their petty whispers Cut out their wagging tongues Prying eyes seek gouging When secrets come undone No need to polish treasured wares That expose beneath the dust Leave the webs to cover and hide In times of regretted lust Charms fade and gardens grey Ignore their waning dying scent No elation sent No unmatched soul will be sought This is only a moment to oneself Spewed forth for all to see Its purpose, no one can tell Break up the worn humdrum Await a new chance Curse aloud at the crowds Their common march is their only crime! Make sure to build the wall too high No more peeking for any sign! Shake up the slow humdrum Churn bitters into wine Stow the thoughts away Until another time Seal the holes that leaked the lies Shun away the arms of foolery Believe the fraud that you are wise

Here's the sign that modern times is finally crashing down Weeds rise form concrete beds Dance till you're dead in the parking lots Take to the rooftops and see what's left THe doors of empty homes stand open Like our toothless mouths Illness in a black rainbow Rifle through their pockets while saying last rites Here's the end that we have dreamt of Here's the face of the collapse Reach out for something living See your hands are filled with dust Walk under rolling clouds of fragmented bone Join the fanatics and rant to the sky The torrents of red murder mingle with the garbage Coagulate in heart-shaped stains Left out to dry in acid rain Left out to die insane The dues left unpaid are the only kindly fate Footprints collect with soot and smother out the lines THe dwindled carry tattered wares On calloused backs of pride To climb the scape, the nails will scrape They cling to hope's last ride Gone are the days of reckless vanity Gone are the old songs from the shore A different set of eyes viewed the bleakest past Open sores breathe in the new mass Here's the end that we have dreamt of Here's the face of the collapse Sorrows grow with each tomorrow To remain is now the only task It is time to settle in the ash

Submitted by johnmansley — Apr 25, 2025