Chapter I. "As These Two Desolate Worlds Collide": Morning on Earth
Pain of Salvation Lyrics

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to
I have always had the desire to silence every heartbeat and every sound of breathing.

Now there is something inside of me that aches as I hear you
I feel a deep pain inside of me when I hear you breathing while you sleep beside me.

Breathing here when you sleep between these morning sheets
I am acutely aware of your breathing as you peacefully sleep beside me, lying between these sheets.

I am the tears in your mouth
I am the emotion that causes you to cry.

I am the weight on your shoulder
I am the burden that you carry with you every day.

I am the scream that wants out
I am the internal struggle that you try to suppress.

And my heart just couldn't grow colder
Despite the pain and struggles I've faced, my heart remains warm and compassionate.

Now this rusty heart is my gift
My heart, though scarred and damaged, is my unique and valuable attribute.

This fallen love is my gift
Even though love has led to pain and heartbreak in my life, it is still a precious gift that I cherish.

Morning arrives on an Earth I've never seen before
Every new day brings fresh experiences and new perspectives.

Revealing a life that I never really understood
As I go through life, I am constantly learning and growing, gaining new insights and realizations.

Strange, the way beauty can hurt the unopened eye
Sometimes, discovering beauty can be a painful experience, especially when it is unexpected or unfamiliar.

Much more than all of the filth and pain
Beauty has the power to affect us on a deeper level than the negative experiences we encounter in life.

That we're soaked in ever could
It can penetrate into our souls and touch us in a way that nothing else can.

Hear this voice, see this man standing before you
Listen to what I have to say, and see me as I am, standing before you.

I'm just a child trapped inside the body of a man
Despite my outward appearance and experiences, I still retain a sense of innocence and vulnerability within me.

"A relation, so oddly old - bred not to love
This peculiar relationship we share is not based on love.

Suffers the beaten grounds of Idioglossia
We struggle to communicate with each other, like speaking in a foreign language that only we can understand.

We talk but we do not speak
We converse with each other, but our conversations lack depth and meaning.

Together only in our incapability to leave this fallen playground
We are only connected by our inability to move on from this broken and flawed existence we both inhabit.

We rule this Empire merely with these few crippled toys
We are the masters of our small, limited world, even though we have very little to work with.

Rust in our faces
The decay and imperfections of our world are reflected in our own appearances.

This is what we can share - this is all we can lose
This flawed world is all we have in common, and it is the only thing we can lose.

Still
Despite everything, we cling to what we have.

Furiously we will linger to it with our lives
We hold onto it with all our might, even though it may be slipping away.

Cling to its rust and pains
We are attached to the flaws and difficulties of our world, even though they cause us pain and suffering.

Barefoot and torn
We are battered and bruised by the challenges of our world, but we remain resilient and determined.

Bred not but born to love"
Our ability to love and connect with others is innate, not something that can be taught or learned.

See this child
Despite my scars and experiences, I am still like a child inside, full of wonder and curiosity.