Sold down the river

But oh
When the kids ask
About the pictures
Stained
From the dirt and ash and tears and blood
You tell them the truth
——
From the dirt
We rose
Hearts of dust and rust
And thorns
And the banks kept calling
And all you had is what you had left
And any touch you had
Was just too far off
——
The love you had
Whatever love you held
Checked out
And you kicked them out
And patched the holes in the walls
They don’t come around here anymore
——
And we drank
To hide the shame
And the pain
And to feel nothing
——
That’s the thing
About being that far behind
They’re loading the chamber
You’re on the line
The bullseye
——
Sure it levels every man
Sure
It evens out in the end
If you survive
——
But out of time is out of time
Dust is dust
Whatever help
Was coming
Took too, too long
So you had your breakdown
You burned out
Because that’s the thing
Too late is too late
Out of time is out of time
——
Tell the kids that
You tell them how it really was
How you had to rebuild
Making bricks from mud and ash.

-E