Orphans of God

i will rise from my bed
with a question again
as i work to inherit the restless wind
the view from my window
is cold and obscene
i want to touch what my eyes have not seen

but they packaged our virtue
in cellulose dreams
and sold us the remnants til our pockets are clean
til our hopes fall 'round our feet
like the dust of dead leaves
and we end up looking like what we believe

we are soot covered urchins
running wild and unshod
we will always be remembered as the Orphans of God
they will dig up these ruins
make flutes of our bones
and blow a hymn to the memory of the Orphans of God

like bees in a bottle
we're flying at faith
beating our wings against the walls of this place
unaware that the struggle
is the blood of the proof
in choosing to believe the unbelievable truth

they have captured our siblings
they have rendered them mute
disputed our lineage and poisoned our roots
we have bones from the broken
who have broken their oaths
and we're out on the street with a lump in our throats

we are soot covered urchins
running wild and unshod
we will always be remembered as the Orphans of God
they will dig up these ruins
make flutes of our bones
and blow a hymn to the memory of the Orphans of God

a hymn to the memory of the Orphans of God

                                    - Mark Heard