I’ve known some weird fuckers,
like knife throwers, Motorcycle gangs
a wiccan priestess, friends of jesus
and thieves with Irish names
But that first sack of feces...
he hid in a closet while we were watching that shit
The whole time, from the beginning of the movie
he knew the entire script
Without making a sound
knowing when the opportunity would arise
to be the biggest scumbag asshole
piece of crap of a human being alive.
We didn't hear him open the closet door
in the darkness of the basement
and we didn't hear his clothes rustle
when he raised his arm and took aim
And there was just enough light
from the glow of the television
To see the 17" polished steel Rambo knife
thrown with precision
As it whistled through the air between our heads
in time with Malachi’s knife
It dug four inches into the cement.
We screamed and ran for our life
Waking all the neighbours.
We were 9. But I learned
If you’re not the one to get the drop first
you’re going to get burned
I’ll wait my turn to study survival style and execution
Stall confusion, squeeze don’t pull,
There’s no such thing as allocution

There’s a rainstorm, plagues, and swarms
Everything is breaking down, it’s what I’m paid for
There’s a strange war and I was made to play with violence
As rainfall blackens embers I paint shadows on my eyelids
There’s a pain worn on the places of the poor
From everything that’s been taken out, I’m trying to give them more
It’s a strange war, but I was made to play with violence
As rainfall blackens embers I paint shadows on my eyelids

I studied in forests ‘round the lakes in falls and winters
Master Splinter grateful Casey Jones beginner at the centre
My training rainy days was lashing logs along the treetops
So the water drops were stopped
siphoned down into the teapot
He taught me from field manuals
gave me homework from the cookbook
Brought me first look
at the latest tools of the trade he got from paying crooks
Our rivals shook the ground with anxious energy.
I’m the enemy.
When they sentenced me
he presented me with the entry fee and dependency
They resented me
but the defences he ingrained inside my brain
Reaped a harvest blessed with pain for those who dare to speak
my name
Because I play the greatest game
and have ever since I lost my innocence
I’m terrified, but into this –
the lonely roads of inner bliss
The witness lists and synthesis
of flesh and bone and hollow tips
The Christmas gifts and business trips,
the listlessness and nervous ticks
Where I exist few can fathom rational explanations
Unravel your expectations
I was raised to aid in domination


I’ve told you I am death – I am the harbinger of doom
Consume the moon to darken lonely nights
and turn the sights to you
I am a ruiner of lives and nothing drives my occupation
Besides the palpitations that arise in times of concentration
Angels of pain have been described
throughout the centuries
And I’ve never believed in angels,
it’s not something I’d pretend to be
But I’m the Alpha and the Omega in the lives of countless people
I am love and I am evil –
I am the one who makes us equal
I didn’t choose this life
it was thrust upon me and I accept it
I regret it and respect it reject it and protect it
Detective of your weaknesses
Exploiter of your deepest flaws
I bury shots beneath applause
and booby-trap the path to Oz.
Some days it’s odd...
I feel like I can’t drop it when I’m home
It follows me
and the ones who took it in the heart appear when I’m alone
But I’m in the shadows now and trained for unflinching efficiency
Knife throwers live to be a million years old and no one’s killing me