BEFORE THE WAR AI Song

Before the war, we knew not how to turn The autumn of our days to spring's bright flame, Nor did we breathe the gypsy wind that burned Our lungs, too choked with life to stake a claim. But when the homeland groans with ancient pain, The veil is torn, the truth stands stark and bare— What once was hidden rises in disdain, What once we knew is lost in ash-filled air. Your heart strains toward the icon of the earth, As justice falls from lips of twisted lies. You see the sword of falsehood's cursed birth, While fate's cold hands exploit what hope defies. And often you behold astonished cries, With questions smeared in doubt, confusion's art— For now your ears eclipse your sight; your eyes Turn inward where the grieving shadows start. Each day, you bid farewell to parts of you, As feelings fade before the court of time. Has all grown dull, this agony so true— Or did you leave it where the ruins climb? You crossed the line, but answers hide in shame, Not bold enough to speak, or even care— We all, like him, are bound to just the same, Our tongues with pain and parting thick with air. Our eyes, like autumn skies, hold tears unshed, Our souls accept what cannot be undone, And though we mark our place with signs of dead, We shroud in silence what the war begun. We sometimes panic in the shattered night, Yet soon acceptance mends the broken core, Collects the scattered wreckage, sets it right, And makes us human, even through the war.