the legacy of Layne Staley

listening to the legacy of Layne Staley

i linger in the lyrics elevated

by the best voice rock-n-roll

has ever known

 

Layne,

i know this may offend many

but you died a poet’s death

your pain was self-chosen

a true artist

 

caught on the carts of confusion

your voice was a transfusion

offering new blood

to a dying world

 

unfurl and let the nursery rhymes

keep time with a heart

that no longer beats

 

i pray the lord your soul to keep

but i think he and i value different stones

to pave the pathway to salvation

 

you can’t be accused of procrastination

you didn’t put off death

heroin high to your last breath

your dealer discovering your decay

 

and to this day

long after the funeral bells have rung

i still listen to all that you had sung

alice in chains, class of ’99, mad season

unless rock-n-roll is treason

it can’t flow in the veins of a soul

 

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