cruel as we are

hello cruel world

i came to you complicit

by my genes, my sex 

my birth not a neutral act

hello cruel world

i come to you in

Solidarity, I am your

Instrument of brutality

hello cruel world

i come to you complicit

by my guile, my connivance

my silence and my spirit

hello cruel world

i your noose and hangman

i your hangman’s knot

i come to you with blood

hello cruel world

on my hands the stains

of a life in your service

in service of my self

hello cruel world

cruel as you are

you must see it clear

you’ve taken your toll

hello cruel world

there comes a blunting

worn dull over time

i will fail you too

hello cruel world

i believe my race’s run

my trail of bodies

ends with my own

hello cruel world

i hang my head before you

you pull the switch on me

in torment i gladly die 

where the path passes the houses

what gladdens what quickens

what withers silently

while summer beckons

while silent winds gather

when evening comes

what chorus fades, echoes

what refrain pauses soft

when even dust settles

and in darkness is lost

what silence do they hear

what mirages what ashes

where pavilions were razed

who endures who prevails

when dusk invites confidences

what muted march resumes

where the path passes the houses

who listens, who endures
and how do they pay the price