Lyrics:

The hymns were carved into my skin
Lines of fire where prayers begin
But when I bled, the angels turned
And left me to the pyres that burned

They crowned me wrong, they crowned me ghost
A name they loved to love the most
But names are prisons when they bind
A lock that severs flesh from mind

The temple doors were closed in stone
No altar left to call my own
I whispered truth — they called it sin
And damned the blood beneath my skin

Ashes of faith, fall into me
No god, no justice, no sanctuary
I buried my prayers where silence sleeps
Among the bones that no one keeps
Ashes of faith, the fire is gone
The book is torn, the choir withdrawn
I walk in shadows, nameless, free
The last devotion is only me

The law was written by sharpened hands
To cut the shape they could withstand
A body bent, a spirit scarred
A kingdom built on gates and guards

They sold me mercy, then turned away
Their justice laughed at what I’d say
The scales were broken from the start
The weight of me too dark, too sharp

Ashes of faith, fall into me
No god, no justice, no sanctuary
I buried my prayers where silence sleeps
Among the bones that no one keeps
Ashes of faith, the fire is gone
The book is torn, the choir withdrawn
I walk in shadows, nameless, free
The last devotion is only me

If heaven saw me, it turned away
If earth could hold me, it made decay
The stars are blind, the saints are stone
I’ll carve my altar from being alone

Ashes of faith, fall into me
No god, no justice, no sanctuary
The hymn is broken, the prayer is dust
The only gospel is learning distrust
Ashes of faith, the fire is gone
But from the ruin, I still go on
I walk in shadows, nameless, free
The last devotion is only me

Temple

Lyrics:

I found a door at the end of the night
Its frame was silver, its handle bright
They whispered “salvation waits inside,”
So I gathered the keys, I gathered the lies

One by one, I fed the lock
Each promise made, each fragile thought
They cracked, they bent, they snapped in two
The door just stared, the door stayed true

Splinters bloomed beneath my hands
Blood ran thin across the bands
Still I swore, “the next will fit,”
But none were made, no teeth would click

Hope is a fever that burns and deceives
Each glimmer dies, but still I believe
The handle shakes, I hear the sound
Only the silence echoes back around

Keys that never turn
Doors that never break
I bruise my hands, I tear my veins
For just one breath to take
But the lock drinks deep
And it will not learn
A thousand prayers, a thousand screams
For keys that never turn

I built my faith on hollow steel
Each fragile shape, each false ideal
The teeth of hope pressed in the groove
But still the silence refused to move

My chest collapsed with every try
A birth of flame, a swift goodbye
I swore salvation’s light was near
But doors don’t bend to broken years

Hope is a wound I reopen to see
Each shining key turns parasite in me
The lock just laughs, the hinges sing
A chorus built on suffering

Keys that never turn
Doors that never break
I bruise my hands, I tear my veins
For just one breath to take
But the lock drinks deep
And it will not learn
A thousand prayers, a thousand screams
For keys that never turn

I found a door at the end of the night
It never opened, it never might
Behind it—salvation, or so they said
But hope is a curse that keeps me fed

Keys that never turn
Doors that never fall
I gave my blood, I gave my bones
It only took them all
And still the lock is whole
Its silence stern
A thousand lives, a thousand deaths
For keys that never turn


Keys

Lyrics:

They told me love was written in fire
That every heart must burn with desire
But when I searched for heat inside
I found the embers long had died

I thought I was a hollow shell
A broken chord, a living hell
The silence in my veins a curse
A vacant song, a universe

I tried to mimic what they crave
To play the part, to misbehave
But every kiss was glass, not flame
And left me drowning under shame

Starless flame, I thought I’d lost
A body wandering, tempest-tossed
No fire lit, no hunger true
A void where love was meant to bloom

But I am not a broken frame
Not ashes dressed in borrowed shame
The void inside is mine to keep
It does not wound, it does not weep

Desire’s chains don’t bind my skin
My truth is strength, not discipline
No cage of fire will define
The way this ghost of me survives

Starless flame, I stand, I breathe
I am enough in all I weave
No hunger forced will make me whole
My quiet fire is still a soul

But how alone this sky can be
So few who share this gravity
A lonely constellation’s glow
A thousand miles I’ll never know

Starless flame, I burn apart
A single light, a severed heart
Though I am whole, I walk alone
Among the stars that are not home
Starless flame, it speaks of me
A truth, a strength, a tragedy
The universe too vast, too far
To find another kindred star

Starless Flame

Lyrics:

The years spilled like sand I never held
A maze of couches, rooms that smelled
Of ink and notes, dissected scars
Mapping my ruin beneath the stars

I chased the “why” until I bled
Unraveled truths that left me dead
Every answer, sharpened steel
A blade that stole the chance to heal

Hourglass, my time undone
The grains all spill, the body numb
I found the truth but lost the years
A crown of knowledge, built of tears

Hourglass, it cuts my hands
No second chance, no promised land
I learned at last why I’m this way
But time had already walked away

Bones that ache like shattered stone
The youth I squandered never grown
In mirrors warped, the body fades
A monument to endless graves

Therapists sifting, piece by piece
But answers never bring release
The puzzle whole, but far too late
The door unlocked, but sealed by fate

Hourglass, my time undone
The grains all spill, the body numb
I found the truth but lost the years
A crown of knowledge, built of tears

Hourglass, it cuts my hands
No second chance, no promised land
I learned at last why I’m this way
But time had already walked away

The glass keeps falling, thin and frail
Each grain a ghost, a whispered wail
I scream for pause, but silence reigns
The future buried in the remains

Hourglass, my time undone
The grains all spill, the body numb
The truth I sought became my chain
A script of loss, engraved in pain

Hourglass, it bleeds me dry
No more tomorrows left to try
The answers carved into my skin
But I will never start again

Hourglass

Lyrics:

I built my words like fragile glass
Hoping one day they’d let me pass
But every voice just turned away
Each cry dissolved in night and day

Hands I reached for turned to stone
Every promise left me alone
The walls I carved to keep me safe
Now tower high, a hollow grave

I cannot trust the world I see
It deafens, blinds, and swallows me
A citadel of silent walls
No answer comes when sorrow calls

I spoke, I screamed, but no one came
Their silence dressed in gentle names
Now fear has locked my voice inside
A ghost that learns it must not confide

The glass that once revealed the truth
Now shows me only shattered youth
Each shard reflects a failed embrace
A thousand masks, a thousand faces

To trust again would be to bleed
To feed the wolves my heart’s last seed
So I retreat, I turn to stone
Better silence than the unknown

I cannot trust the world I see
It deafens, blinds, and swallows me
A citadel of silent walls
No answer comes when sorrow calls

I spoke, I screamed, but no one came
Their silence dressed in gentle names
Now fear has locked my voice inside
A ghost that learns it must not confide

Keys that rust within my hand
Doors that open into sand
Each vow I held dissolved to rust
The grave I keep is made of trust

I cannot trust, I cannot pray
The glass has cut it all away
A citadel where shadows feast
The echoes rise, the voices cease

I learned too late, I’m not believed
Each wound denied, each plea deceived
So I withdraw, my hands unclasped
A soul that mourns what trust collapsed

Trust

Citadel

Lyrics:

The smoke still rises from the ground
Each bridge I burned without a sound
I could not see who held me near
Through walls of rage, through walls of fear

I cursed the hands that tried to stay
And welcomed ghosts that led astray
I could not judge through fractured sight
Who wished me well, who bared the knife

Burned bridges, flames that climb
I razed the truth, I blurred the line
I lost the ones who called me home
And chose the fire, and walked alone

The ashes cling, the smoke won’t fade
I wear the scars of choices made
Not every hand was meant to harm
But blinded, I set fire to calm

Now silence builds where voices stood
A barren shore of ash and wood
I mourn the love I cast aside
The trust I failed, the ones who tried

Burned bridges, flames that climb
I razed the truth, I blurred the line
I lost the ones who called me home
And chose the fire, and walked alone

If I could build from ash and stone
Could I repair the paths I’ve known?
Or is the cost too high to bear
A ghost condemned to breathe this air?

Burned bridges, flames that climb
The fault is theirs, the fault is mine
I held the torch, I made the scar
And now I watch from where we are


Burned Bridges

Lyrics:

I keep the silence sealed inside
Afraid of what your words might hide
If I revealed the weight I bear
Would you dismiss, would you still care?

I’ve built a world you’ll never see
Of wounds you carved unknowingly
But if I spoke, your cold reply
Could be the knife to make me die

The weight of apologies, crushing my chest
I beg for a mercy that may not exist
Too fragile to ask, too broken to plead
I bury the silence where no one will see

You live untouched, you’ll never know
The scars that shaped the child you broke
I never said, I never tried
The risk too sharp, the pain too wide

So I wait in silence, years erode
A heart implodes but never shows
The words I crave, they’ll never start
A grave unspoken in my heart

The weight of apologies, crushing my chest
I beg for a mercy that may not exist
Too fragile to ask, too broken to plead
I bury the silence where no one will see

If I confess, you might not care
If I reveal, would you still stare?
The risk is greater than the pain
So silence keeps me in its chain

The weight of apologies, crushing my chest
I dream of a kindness I’ll never possess
Too fragile to ask, too broken to plead
The silence devours the words that I need

The Weight of Apologies

Lyrics:

I paint the smile, the practiced line
The mask you want, the face is mine
You never ask, you never see
The fracture living under me

I tell you lies to ease your mind
To make you think I’m safe, I’m fine
For every time I dared confess
You left me drowning in the mess

False healing, I wear the light
But inside I am lost to night
A polished frame, a hollow core
I smile and say I’ll hurt no more

The mask has teeth that cut my skin
But safer out than what’s within
If I expose the blood I bleed
You turn away, you never see

So I perform, I play the part
A broken face, a plastic heart
It keeps you calm, it keeps me caged
A prison built, a role I’ve staged

False healing, I wear the light
But inside I am lost to night
A polished frame, a hollow core
I smile and say I’ll hurt no more

Don’t ask again, I’ll only lie
The truth would make you turn and hide
So let me wear the mask you crave
A smiling ghost inside a grave

False healing, I wear the light
But inside I am lost to night
A polished frame, a hollow core
I smile and say I’ll hurt no more

False healing, you’ll never see
The pain you never asked of me
I wear the smile, I play the part
A painted face, a broken heart

False Healing

Lyrics:

I feel the hunger in my chest
The hollow ache, the endless rest
But every hand that reached before
Left me bleeding on the floor

I crave the warmth, the human light
But fear the teeth that always bite
The closer love has ever been
The deeper it has carved my skin

Once bitten, twice shy
I want to live, but I can’t try
The bridges burned, the ghosts remain
I guard my heart, I starve my veins

Once bitten, twice shy
I want to live, but I can’t try
The bridges burned, the ghosts remain
I guard my heart, I starve my veins

The loneliness consumes my frame
A hollow voice without a name
Yet I resist the open door
Afraid of what I’ve known before

I see your eyes, I hear your call
But fear the rise, the coming fall
If I let go, I may not stand
I cage myself with my own hands

Once bitten, twice shy
I want to live, but I can’t try
The bridges burned, the ghosts remain
I guard my heart, I starve my veins

I want to trust, I want to heal
But every wound still feels too real
I fear the joy, I fear the kiss
Afraid of what I’ll lose in this

Once bitten, twice shy
I want to live, but I can’t try
The fire calls, the shadows cling
And I retreat from everything

Once bitten, twice shy
I ache for love, but I deny
Better silence, better pain
Than bleed and break and fall again

Twice Shy

Lyrics:

You bring me tales of shallow storms
Of fleeting wounds, of minor thorns
I nod, I smile, I play my part
While silence claws inside my heart

You’ll never know the weight I bear
The cliff I walk, the thinning air
Your fragile worlds collapse on me
While I weigh life, eternity

Petty kingdoms, broken thrones
You call on me, I break alone
Your shallow waves, my endless deep
I smile while screaming you’ll never see

Each mask I wear to keep you calm
A painted grin, a broken psalm
I cannot speak, I cannot break
One careless word’s the end I’d make

So I will hold your tiny wars
And never show my bleeding floors
You lean on me, you’ll never know
The edge I guard, the fall below

Petty kingdoms, broken thrones
You call on me, I break alone
Your shallow waves, my endless deep
I smile while screaming you’ll never see

Your troubles small, they weigh me down
But silence keeps me gagged, unbound
If I revealed the depth I keep
Would you still trust, or let me weep?

Petty kingdoms, broken thrones
You call on me, I break alone
Your shallow waves, my endless deep
I smile while screaming you’ll never see

Petty kingdoms, fragile reigns
I bear the crown, I hide the chains
The edge beneath my feet won’t free
While I collapse invisibly

Petty Kingdoms

Lyrics:

The light was real, but now it’s gone
A phantom code I can’t hold on
Each moment clear dissolves in haze
A broken loop of endless days

I chase the calm but it won’t stay
It flickers once, then fades away
Exhaustion crowns the weary head
I beg for life, but hum like dead

Hollow circuit, nothing flows
The current fades, the silence grows
I saw the dawn but can’t return
The wires spark, the ashes burn

Each fleeting peace betrays me still
A gift I cannot summon at will
The weight of failure cracks the bone
And leaves me colder, more alone

Why climb again, why even try
When every dawn is doomed to die?
The cost too steep, the gain too thin
A battle I can’t seem to win

Hollow circuit, nothing flows
The current fades, the silence grows
I saw the dawn but can’t return
The wires spark, the ashes burn

I reach, I fail, the cycle breaks
Each effort rusts, each echo aches
If joy’s a ghost I cannot keep
Then let me drift into the deep

Hollow circuit, nothing flows
The current fades, the silence grows
I saw the dawn but can’t return
The wires spark, the ashes burn

Hollow circuit, frail and spent
A life diminished, wires bent
I stumble on, but wonder why
When every spark was made to die


Hollow Circuit

Hi, I'm Atlas!  I consider myself primarily a lyricist.  Music for me is a way of expressing myself and how I am feeling.  I hope something in my music speaks to you and as my friend has said to me, "May the music you need find its way to you."

Hollow Circuit

Atlas I.