Broken windows leer as ghosts walk by
The empty streets strike with a pang
As they reach out, disperse their cry
To struggle for things beyond, and sigh
When nothing answers and silence is nigh
Extend their fingers to blackened sky
And wonder what it was they sang

Dust cakes all but eye and voice
Hope is gone, will not return
As joy continues to burn and burn
Charred remains of broken choice
When stars by smoke become obscure
Nothing that lives escapes the lure
The things not seen sing their song
And the empty wonder where they belong

The colors fade, have turned to gray
Despair dances somewhere deep
With the smiles it led astray
With promises of far away
Lullaby of painless sleep
No more hunger, no dismay
Empty hearts that need not weep

Swollen stomach, reddened eyes
From the road, its shadows dark
Meet the stares of passers-by
To be so young, so burdened with fears
On equal terms, cold and stark
Marked far more than by the years

Wounds of dull pain no longer bleed
Old scars form creases in the heart
Long ago had learned of greed
To know, and yet continue to plead
For a chance to remain, instead of depart
To live in the light again, to be freed

To live right now brings naught but pain
One scar each for hunger and cold
Of what remains there is little to gain
Why, when before we had been so bold?
Now where is the strength we held in old?

Yet despite the hope it had killed most of
Dark can still give birth to light
Those it touched will be alright
If they surpass to what they once succumbed
Then they once more can find their sight

If I could raise courage within my breast
And, with hope, lay doubts to rest
Rise from these ashes where I lay
Perhaps this struggle was for the best
Otherwise how could I be shown the way?
Despite all I fought against
I’ll never die, won’t fade away