Carnival Collapse

Step right up Check the stitching Check the price tag on your soul The lights are broken The mirrors lie And the clown knows your name Welcome to the last show Zip-zap rhythm in a rusted parade Ticker-tape prophets selling faith by the blade Every booth got a banner saying “Heaven inside” But the prize is a coffin and the hinges are fried They juggle your hunger, auction your pain Sell the cure to the fever that they engineered You bought the ticket, swallowed the script Now the cage got your fingerprints welded in steel Smile for the camera Dance for the crowd They promised salvation But they needed a clown Welcome to the carnival collapse The halo’s a muzzle The sermon’s a trap Trumpets of rust Confetti of ash Paradise sold in a clearance rack Welcome to the carnival collapse The saints sell tickets to heaven out back The throne wants silence but hands you a mask Laugh while the kingdom cracks Step right through the bureaucratic gates Holy water mixed with corporate rates Every prayer stamped “approved by the board” Every prophet just a sponsored report Family cages passed down like a ring Grandfather’s ghost still pulling the string They promised the truth if you knelt in the dust But the throne needs doubt to survive your trust Hush now Don’t wake the god behind the curtain If the audience sees the wires The miracle dies Rip the banners Torch the tent Every prophet’s paycheck spent They sold you heaven they leased your breath A throne survives by rehearsing death Welcome to the carnival collapse The halo’s a muzzle The sermon’s a trap Confetti of bones in a thunderous blast The kingdom falls at last Welcome to the carnival collapse The saints sold tickets to heaven out back The throne wants silence but hands you a mask Laugh while the kingdom cracks The lights go out The crowd goes home And the cage Was never locked