Under Siege

I’m walking a road from the old part of town to the mountains

The one I would take to pick mushrooms and herbs as a child

To an enchanted forest in a magic time

Where a child could grow up wild before the killers came

They fenced us in and the mountains were filled up with snipers

A thousand points of light as bright as the stars in the sky

Our one line of defense was the forests and fields

Where we’d plant our mines for them to reap

Walk in the shadow

Life under siege

For three long years the only way out was a coffin

As we scraped a living bleeding our fair city dry

You can’t feed your child on resistance & pride

We were just out of supplies when the killers went

We reclaimed the streets

We reclaimed the squares and the sidewalks

Stepped out of the shadows

Taught the children to play in the sun

But to not run and hide in the forests and fields

Where the mines won’t be cleared in sixty years

I’m walking a road from the old part of town to the mountains

Through forests and fields that used to be 90% of our industry

Where my sons worked full time sweeping mines that I planted

Since the day my grandson became a memory