Shh

Quiet now

The walls are listening again

Don’t move

Don’t blink

Don’t make me start from the bad part

Once upon a time in a house made of heat

Where the floorboards groaned underneath your feet

Every promise curled like smoke in the hall

Every family portrait watched the ash fall

There was a girl with a mouth full of prayers

And a smile stitched up like nobody cared

There was a boy with a match in his hand

Saying love like a lie no one understands

In the kitchen the glass kept singing your name

In the bedroom the mirror learned all your shame

In the walls something small started scratching to live

Like a debt coming back for the change you gave

Did you hear that sound

No you didn’t

That was only the house breathing in

Did you feel that shift

No you didn’t

That was only the dark settling in

Hush now

Head down

Something’s at the door

No sound

Don’t ask

What it wants you for

Red words

Thin skin

Clock hands cut the air

Bad luck

Bad blood

Bad things everywhere

It’s a bad time story

Written in red

With a soft little voice

And a mouth full of dread

It’s a bad time story

Turn the lock

Kill the light

Where the monsters don’t chase you

They wait there inside

It’s a bad time story

Say my name

Say goodnight

Say you never saw the shadows moving right

It’s a bad time story

Don’t you worry

Don’t you cry

You were lost long before they kissed the sky

Sleep now

Sleep now

Sleep now in the dust

Sleep now

Sleep now

Everything breaks if you touch it too much

Thirteen struck and the whole house smiled

Like a mother gone wrong with a dead-eyed child

Wolf at the door with a gentleman’s grin

Clawing polite just to let himself in

Under the bed all the secrets went wet

Every sorry little thing you were trying to forget

There’s a crown in the dirt and a dress in the drain

And a princess blue-lipped from forgetting her name

You can tell me you’re good

You can tell me you tried

But the truth leaves a taste you can’t wash from the tongue

You can hold your breath still

You can close both your eyes

But the dark knows the shape of the things that you’ve done

Did you hear that laugh

Low and broken

Like a hymn with the throat torn out

Did you hear me cry

No you didn’t

I was smiling when I drowned it out

Hush now

Head down

Something’s in the walls

No God

No help

No one hears your calls

Cold hands

Small teeth

Pulling at the thread

Bad dream

Bad seed

Bad thoughts in your head

It’s a bad time story

Written in red

With a soft little voice

And a mouth full of dread

It’s a bad time story

Turn the lock

Kill the light

Where the monsters don’t chase you

They wait there inside

It’s a bad time story

Say my name

Say goodnight

Say you never saw the shadows moving right

It’s a bad time story

Don’t you worry

Don’t you cry

You were lost long before they kissed the sky

I was only telling you the truth

That’s what you wanted

Wasn’t it

I was only pulling back the sheet

So you could see what sleeps beneath it

Bad times make bad hearts

Bad hearts make bad homes

Bad homes make ghosts

And ghosts don’t leave

Bad words in the mouth

Black mold in the lungs

Love with a switchblade smile

Twisting underneath

Shh

Listen

The mice in the floor

The nails in the beams

The breath in the vent

The hand in your dreams

The click in the hall

The weight on the stair

The voice that says

No one is there

Shh

Again

The crack in the glass

The hymn in reverse

The dirt in the bed

The kiss and the curse

The shape in the door

The teeth in the grin

The thing you call evil

Has always lived in

It’s a bad time story

It’s a bad time story

Written in red

It’s a bad time story

No more glory

No more sun

Morning only comes for certain ones

There now

Much better

Close your eyes

Lie still

Let the dust decide what you become

And if the sun forgets to rise

Don’t be afraid

You were never meant

To wake up