The empire has fallen.
Olympus is on bent knee.
Stars and stripes are no longer stunning.
They are littered among the ashes of American exceptionalism.

This country was to aspire to higher ideals.
Our marble columns were not to be built on the backs of injustice.
These shores were meant to welcome the little guy in us all.
Now, they are littered among the the ashes of American excpetionalism.

Falling back to earth, this place is nothing special.
Patriots stand idle.
The name of the country is being dragged through the mud.
Dirtied by the ashes of American exceptionalism.

We are the devils we always feared.
The ones we swore to protect the world from.
Now, darkened souls torment our government's door.
Riddled by the ashes of American exceptionalism.

Is there hope? Can there be change?
Can we see the error of our ways?
Is this ship too far off course?
Are we guided by half mast American exceptionalism?

Hell came in the form of wind.
Debris acted as tools of violent fury.
Lives were lost; others altered forever.
The world held its collective breath.
We are still waiting to exhale.

Soon, the papers will write other headlines.
Cameras will find other tragedies.
Magazines will need something else to print.
No fault here. It is the nature of the beast.

As they leave, the real story will begin.
Pain replaced with hope.
Loss with triumph.
Destruction with construction.
These things will be seen and unseen.
They will take a physical form and will occur in spirit.

No one will ever forget May 20, 2013.
It will be memorialized in the hearts of men.
But violence should not define this windswept town.
Those events afterward should.

No more ****. No more slavery. No more poverty.
Lady be free.
No more mutilation. No more denial. No more pain.
Lady be free.
We demand equality. We demand equity. We demand access.
Lady be free.
We desire these things, because you did.
Lady be free.
We were moved by your spirit.
Lady be free.
You moved action into progress.
Lady be free.
The world now has an opportunity to right a wrong.
Lady be free.
We can remove the last of humankind's chains.
Lady be free.
When we do, we shall all be free.
All be free.

The serpent slithers on the garden floor.
Down comes the apple.
Fall of man.
Dwelling on the devil.

In the garden on bent knee.
Temptation of the king.
No pressure.
Dwelling on the devil.

In a darkened apartment high above the Emerald City.
Things change rapidly.
Sin is met with sin.
Dwelling on the devil.

Soldiers in a far off land.
**** and torment.
Innocence passes away.
Dwelling on the devil.

Fire down below.
Eternal damnation for all.
No real choice.
Dwelling on the devil.