I know the toothless women
Who crumple on the streets
The rain bleeds through their cardboard,
The cold drips through their feet

I know the dying children
With anaesthetic arms
The angels crowd around them
With time that burns their palms

I've hugged the brainwashed gangsters
With money drenched in blood
I've heard their broken weeping
While digging up the mud

I've seen the starving faces
Of the tired girls at home
The broken, hectic psyches
That eat them to the bone

I know the burning poets
With a desperate thirst for life
The need for finding soulmates
That pierces like a knife

There's weary public servants
Who risk their lives for good
And prove compassion every day
Yet stay misunderstood

Human love is buried
Beneath the plastic weight
Of angry allegations
And a world that feeds off hate

These people may be messy,
But they're beautiful and real
With hidden dreams and secrets
And ability to feel

We have a place to run to
With lights of peach and gold
Where all the weight is lifted
And all our tales are told

We live in total freedom
So safe beneath the moon
And though it seems ambitious
Our dreams will save us soon

Just because I'm unassuming,
doesn't mean I'm weak.
Just because I'm quiet,
doesn't mean that I don't have thoughts.
Just because I blend in,
doesn't mean I can't stand out.
Just because I'm off to the side,
doesn't mean I'm unimportant.

Just because I don't scream.
doesn't mean I'm calm.
Just because I don't show affection,
doesn't mean I don't love.
Just because you see me as simple,
doesn't mean I'm not complex.

My mind keeps going.
A million miles an hour.
Maybe more.
It is unforgiving.
It is relentless.
It is holding me hostage.
Faster and faster.
Threatening to throw me
right off the rails.
I fear I am losing control.

Why can't I make it stop?

They may look like bars to you.
And I understand
why you feel uncomfortable.

It is dark,
It is damp,
It is foreboding.

It doesn't seem like a place,
where joy exists.

But within these stone walls.
I find the liberty
to be what I truly am.

And that is all that matters.

I tried to protect you,
but you ran in anyway.

I tried to warn you,
but you refused to listen.

I tried to stop you,
but you drowned me out.

I tried to help you,
but you closed your arms.

I tried to love you,
but you pushed me away.

I tried to save you,
but you let it all crumble.

I tried.

The Army's taking over,
The Army's taking over,
better run,
avoid the guns.

The streets are full of chaos,
The streets are full of chaos,
all around,
blood on the ground.

The government is falling,
The government is falling,
but that's the goal,
there's no control.

In the village there's a riot,
In the village there's a riot.
Trouble ahead,
more fear and dread.

The shops and homes are burning,
The shops and homes are burning.
Political games,
will fan the flames.

The new President is speaking,
The new President is speaking.
Different time,
Same lies and crimes.

You stole my heart.
You stole my soul.
I'm off the rails.
There's no control.

You stole my strength,
You stole my pride.
I'm alone and lost
and cold inside.

You stole my smiles,
You stole my joy.
There was so little
you did not destroy.

You stole my vigor,
You stole my grace.
Now I'm wounded
in a desperate place.

You stole my light,
left me trapped in black.
You stole everything...

...and I want it back.