As I Washed the Blood Off

As I washed the blood off she yelled at me

though no blows had been struck

and she still looked so serene

then she started to cry

then she burst out laughing

then three sharp words in that warrior's tongue

I'd learned them well

through this night in hell

"I'm not ashamed of my body

I never said you hurt me

with your faithless wit and your aimless guile

and your [fall from] hands and your shame faced smile

Everything you touch is gonna TURN TO DUST!"

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

As I washed the blood off she laughed at me

and asked whose reincarnation I might be

I said, "I'm not your father

or the-two legged beast who scarred you

though I have done great wrongs of my own."

They were long ago

so how could you know?

I never asked for your pity

That's just as well if you ask me

Then the lights went out

and a rumble built to become a roar

but she screamed, "It's you!

Every day you wake is gonna end in hate!"

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

I didn't know what to do

How could I tell her the truth?

I climbed up out of her hall

and went to sleep on the roof

When I woke up to the sun

her brother brought me some food

and we played cards until 'noon

Five stories up from [...?]

The pools of blood and the blasted rocks

and the children screaming who will never stop

and the blast of heat

and the stench of gas

and the lost dogs fighting over human scraps

and she called to us from the street beneath

"My footloose ways will be the death of me!"

and she took the hand of a drunk militia captain

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

Not a stone will stand upon a stone

As I washed the blood off she spat at me

and said it's about time you died

My outbound train gave a sickening lurch

and I hung my head and cried

For shame I sat and cried

I could not help but cry