You Have Never Lived Because You Have Never Died

I saw 13 black crows, they're black as 3 a.m. And as big as vultures' eyes With wings hanging to their sides like laundry on the line They were standing in a circle letting their tongues dry They're coming for me like thieves or ghosts Stealing songs, and whispering poems to themselves Abou-about nonsense and existence I don't want to die I saw four black eagles With horns growing towards the ground Like-like columns or anchors reaching towards the bottom Their feathers are folded Like hands of a man resting in his coffin Bending over each other rattling my bones Drumming out the answers in ways I will need one day Their hooves are giving me growing pains I sleep like a tornado I saw 18 black hawks with beaks full of teeth Roaring like a pack of wolves in perfect V With hoods over their eyes To cover up what they've seen Secrets bouncing off the insides of their lips meant for me They landed on my life like spears Ears tucked back like arrow feathers Wings spread wide like-like storm clouds over Kansas Hailing on me, teaching me their dances They gave me armor And we will never die We will never die And I don't want to die We will never die We will never die But we don't-we don't want to try I don't want to die I won't let you die We will never die We won't even try But if we, if we never die, then we never really live I saw nine black owls, they were quiet as death They had, they had talons Like-like antlers growing from their hearts And they were tearing me apart Each bird was tagged like cattle with one word And they burned them in to my mind, they read You have never lived because you have never died