of love's sweet betrayal to the light; dawn approaches; hens lay silent

the mirror shows not myself

it tells no lie

left and right

i can see you eight different ways

and none of them are right

the only truth is found at night

my eyes do not adjust to the coming light

but i hear the rooster crow

a beautiful lie is coming fast

no different than contradictions

myself and i are two different lives

betraying eachother constantly

the reflection of my face, pulled through infinity

displayed in black and white

the guard protecting teeth i've ruined

which is which?

life is like a cigarette

how often you drag determines how long it lasts

sweet syrup in the filter or bitter menthol and fiberglass

such is the choice we face in every moment

to say yes or no to the inescapable truth that still somehow slips between my fingertips

as i turn it upside down and flick it towards the gutter

i want to take it as my last

but the fact remains that i deny myself nothing

and myself can only deny

heaven and hell are simple decisions

to say yes to i, no to myself

either one brings pain and pleasure

just in different ways

but there are no differences in them

only in me

and the lack of control seems becoming of me

as if my ignorance grants me the ability to create my own destiny

although it is already laid before me

i still make it what it is

but there are no choices i have not already made

even the ones that are yet to come

and, but, or

a gorgeous denial, a tempting lie

i've seen fit to develop two eyes

to contest and contrast eachother

neither sees clearly without the other

but alone they would die

such as i

and who am i to question myself?

for i am the only one who knows

although the birds and beasts see wisely, more clearly than myself

i reign above them

like an infant among men

oh god, my sight deceives me

my tongue deceives you

such is this life of mine, beautiful lie