Faded Destroyer by Joshua Powell

As stealthy as a stag,
as careful as my dad in his garage
I got you into bed--
you smelled like cigarettes and rosewater

and in that post-connection climate,
you go asking what my sign is
and when I tell you that's not science,
you get out of bed

At a temple in the badlands,
outside a city in the slabs,
I felt every prayer that was ever prayed on my behalf
and said my own:
Don't give up on me!

When I was out on tour,
for forty years or more (is how it felt)
my friends were better sports
as I tried to cram the LORD into their throats

Doing right by my employer?
Or becoming the Destroyer?
My mother sits embroidering her scriptures

While at a temple in the badlands,
outside a city in the slabs,
I felt every prayer that was ever prayed on my behalf
and said my own:
Don't give up on me

At a temple in the badlands, I prayed

• Rock
• bedroom pop
• dreamy
• indie rock
• melodic-metalcore
• metalcore
• post-hardcore
• psychedelic
• shoegaze
• Indianapolis