Hanging Gardens

In the gardens perched on the sky
 The ones where snakes sing lullabies
 I met a man who spoke to me
 A dead man hanging from a tree
 He craned his neck and whispered this
 "Perfection is the great abyss
 Leave now lest you share my fate
 A ghost dangling at heaven's gate"
 Why should I fear paradise?
 I lived free of mortal vice
 So I trudged on past the sycamores
 And stood before the pearly doors
 Through the bars I saw the fields
 The stars mere cogs in ox cart wheels
 The earth a pebble in a stream
 But not one human to be seen
 Undeterred I gripped the latch
 I pulled but it came unattached
 Despite my rage, the gates stood firm
 Then grew so hot I smelled flesh burn
 I ran back injurted to the groves
 And washed my wounds in waterfalls
 As I bathed I heard the groans
 Of voices wrapped in funeral pall
 Count leaves dangling from a branch
 Thus numbered bodies overhead
 Specters moaning for another chance
 To escape the orchard of the dead
 An empty noose caressed my neck
 The way my first love had
 A soothing feeling on my neck
 To forget the good and bad
 To forget the ones who hurt you
 To forget the ones you hurt
 To forget the hate all men accrue
 When their feet still touch the dirt