05. The Empire’s Skyline

I was born a black sheep in the hospital

Made to wear a thinning coat of white wool

I know this city's gold is malleable

And I'll be damned if I'm played the fool

I didn't want to admit it

But the details seemed to slip from out my fingertips

When there were hints within your rhetoric

This is a life that you no longer want to live

But if my instincts prove right

I know their guard's down at night

I guess our window would be slight

But we could slyly slide by

Or maybe you want to stew and rot

And forever mind your thoughts

But if not let's scale the gates and get lost

You turned from the skyline and breathed a gasp

As if overwhelmed by the colorfast

Between our makeshift, nomadic camps

Our ghosts wear new names and covered tracks

You didn't want to admit it

As if the words left an indication of how we used to live

If only you could tear from these elements

And return to a world a bit less imminent

But I thought we'd agreed

That this was cleaner air to breath

Without the clinkering of shackles

And streets of disease

I never promised it would be perfect

I merely asked if you would turn

And you did

But now there's fire and there's flood

Through which we endlessly trudge

While the mud floors my boots

And the smoke fills my lungs

Maybe that city is all that's morbid

But those buildings would be warm

And at least I'd live

But I guess I see

How I'd be a thief

And your seconds are

What I would reap

But did I take

More than I gave?

I think this is an argument that's best saved

For a better day