Crimes Against Virtue

I have lived in the darkest depths of Babylon
And Walked the endless road to Hell
I have felt their footsteps with my fingers
And touched the world's beating heart
I have given to shame a fameless name
And poured tears across a starless sky
I have wrestled in the midst of hope
And torn away the skin of lust
I have built a thorny hedge of hate
And sheltered love with barricades
I have scarred these hands with sin
And peeled away the blistering burns
I have scorned the weak with bitterness
And poured salt into open wounds
I have slipped the edge of fear
And jumped into an endless chasm
I have ripped branches from the trees
And slept in other worlds
I have singled out the painless touch
And drowned in puddles of thought
I have murdered choice with change
And set fire to these bones
I have hid in the darkest shades
And worn the mask of lesser men
I have bled the hope from every pour
And yielded to the unknown beast
I have paced the days of boredom
And yearned for greater freedom
I have bound a soul in chords
And wrapped a twisting smile with a bow
I have fed the mass with impure hands
And mocked the Gods above
I have left the hopes of the living
And tasted the dreams of the dying
I have slaughtered love with anger
And covered tracks with penitence
I have warred the sharpest sword
And kissed the stain of pain
I have known the tides of rushing waves
And skipped the heights among the stars
I have stepped on hands
And drifted through the blackest fields
I have sat by thinking, settling,
And time has never taken me farther than here