Monuments atop the summit of the mind
But stone pillars turn to dust
When attention shines
That granite chips
When the point of observation pries
Them cornerstones are prone
To crumble right before our eyes
Now that's the truth in lies
Grave deceptions are but servants of the wise
Deluded in our grandeur
Like a fool that's in disguise
But strip away the surface
And reveal the great divide
Between the ornaments of culture
And the meaning of our lives

Before we lay in ash
I feel ascension giving way at last
Into the valley once more now we go
Into the gray, into the ground down below

You can search the afterlife for pearly gates
But only manner of the earth
Can serve to wipe the slate
Reject what's given or accept it
That's the choice you make
But destinations are determined
By the steps we take
So make that great escape
That fixed belief it will fracture
Before it changes shape
That chain holds firm up until it shatters
Amidst the ties you break
Don't root your feet or you'll never manage
To slide and shift your weight
Turn about face and imagine what can happen
See that's the twist of fate
They found the treasure
But their pockets are full of toys
And their victors of status
But of true spoils they can't enjoy
Although no man's an island
Within many of them exists a void
And they will forever forfeit
Passage across the bridge
That they've destroyed

In the hollow of our hands we survive
Drifting through the meadow
Next to mountains in the sky
No method to the madness
But in madness they will climb
Why settle in the heavens
When the river's in decline
To arrive is to wither and erode
To rest upon your laurels
Is to shrivel to the bone
To catch the unexpected
Ditch the devil that you know
And if you get to where you're going
Then there's nowhere left to go

Before we lay in ash
I feel ascension giving way at last
Into the valley once more now we go
Into the gray, into the ground down below