1. JADE EMPEROR

Lord of nothing and less than nothing

In a city of millions
An empire of billions
A yellow river, a yellow earth
Son of heaven him they call
Jade emperor, master of all

He‘s none of these things, none at all
A middle king for a middle kingdom

The true jade emperor you cannot see
Across southern mountains he soars free
His beard of silver flows downstream
Aeons upon aeons has he seen

Dancing in fields of cinnebar
Swift but still, always near but afar,

A tongue without words
Understood by all
A strength unconquerable
One never need call
Elixirs brewed of true gold,
Arsenic, steel, lead, cobalt

It’s this jade emperor whom I seek
Life eternal, divine potency

From your mouth I drink, jade emperor!
Into death I sink, jade emperor!

Recipes passed down from days of old,
Each one shall I imbibe, wait shall I not!


2. DEAD STONE MASK

Hell is no pit
No cave, no fire
No deep, no dark
No sky, no moon
No wind, no star

Hell is the sea
Out wide and yonder
A writhing tide
A drowning hope
Jade-green and far

No breath, only scream
Under the mask they scream
No breath, no breath
Under the green jade mask

Souls churn in waves
Named now nameless
Lived now lifeless
Faces now faceless
Sunless, lightless

No breath, only scream
Under the mask they scream
No breath, no breath
Under the green jade mask


3. BLOSSOM

Blossom, I strike you down by sword of flower
Not by steel, but by my power
A monarch you to enslavement seize

On a petal throne
The sun is thirsty
Blood on stone
Sacrificial slabs await
The warlord‘s own
A soldier you to death release
Blood on stone
His thirst we‘ll slake

Blossoms, dead combatants I don‘t need
Feathers, living prisoners do I keep
Blossoms, sacrificial slabs await
Feathers, his thirst we‘ll slake


4. SMOKING MIRROR

I am there, the smoking mirror

Where there is silent wind
Where a jaguar creeps
Where battle-horns roar
Where a man is sacrificed

Where there is prophecy
Where blood is spilled
Where a maiden weeps
Where a city lives

I am there, the smoking mirror

Necoc yaotl! teacher
Necoc yaoti! betrayer
Enemy of both sides
Yohualli ehecatl! the obsidian god

I am there, the smoking mirror