Thin Red Lies
Mother please accept these folded greens
No more will I bare scars of Charlie trees
Burning fields in hell where I lose myself
Broken toy soldiers left on the shelf
Each day shall I wake inside my endless void
My loathing demon
Self abusing what isn't destroyed
For if this day is to be my final day
What in life reviewed, could one truly say?
Joining with death to stand at the edge
Halfway to alive we make one final pledge
Old bones not yet cold to step down from the ledge
For the fallen we rise in servitude of a friend
What is normality if not civilian casualty
The mirror reveals our nemesis to conquest
My own contrarian to common sense
Dearly departed better half still fighting in that trench
Still do I feel the fear within every lonely beer
Those bombing runs and the city siren I still hear
Old words never die held true to our decree
Once more unto the breach my dear friend misery
No soldier lost to finding their best
Waking up in wrapped sheets of hospital beds
The Reaper ever stalking in the gallows of death
Golden wings once soared flying angels above our head
Lottery to no fortune of life be numbers so tragic
Salute to Goose as he returns with his Maverick
Pageantry upon stage of their youth we stole
Hanging medals to chests like Olympians winning gold
Pin up posters placed to cover those bullet holes
Held to us the prisoners of all these lost souls
Days within years not be lost in vain
Judge us guilty sentencing poor Andy Dufresne
Twenty years the agony throwing him away
Arms open wide to our sky
His purgatory of chains be freed in falling rain
Words sworn to justice upon bibles never read
Life brings us to our knees as all be given is bled
Finding his smile at the end with his old Red
But for a single petal we do return to this falling sky
Gift of dreams for loved ones we left behind
Those souls of brave we gave to the crown
Tears that stream no rowing sailor down
Poor soldiers sent from their home towns
Their spirit in families still line those streets
Waiting upon time no returning boy be seen
We honour their sacrifice they have already paid
The life of Sons our Mothers gave away
Screaming to give back our loved ones we gave to the fray
May eternity echo the names on our memorial display
We stand with Andy and those families
Their lost voices to walls that cry with no sound
By their side we hold them so they never fall down
Upon the horizon we stand to gaze of red skies
See the burning fields in our farthest sight
To our chest do we keep all we love so tight
The warrior to be my brothers keeper
Admire with pride our uniformed sisters
The fighting ladies of the Lioness
Our beating heart as they put away that Sunday dress
Show the broken man he always had the warriors best
With polished boots and our pressed dress suits
May their voices echo through our finest rifle salute
Honour the word we gave upon their soul be kept
Journey home holding hours as hands to the wet cement
If it be my life then so shall it be with my friend
Nights lost to wonder like young boys in backyard tents
Sunday mass we gather holding mothers that wept
Hope guide us to see our heart waiting on that front step
Instead the widow left to hold this letter they never sent
By her side we stand to make sure she will be our best
Dark days in black parades to see no fallen son go by
Let go our balloons to make rainbows in the sky
May love give them flight to this our saddest goodbye
Still this very day do soldiers remain
On no field of dreams so far away
Under dawn of first light we will show no shame
We come to remember our fallen brave
Thinking of those brothers we couldn't save
Their life to the bottle as we throw them away
As moments fade, shall we colour in the grey
Too long have their pictures slowly begun to fade
Have we sold their homes to see the politician paid
Return our flags that we fold upon graves
Be they banners we fly to walk through their towns
Each step upon the bricks they have laid down
This petal we gave so shall it remain on their grave
Through the rain may it shine for our finest brave
No enemy but my own grief shall I have from this day
Return the fathers to home where they should always stay
So their sacrifice be never given in vain
Our rifles surrended to never be remade
The mind concealed to war as fog starts to lift
Just these poor children hiding under kitchen sinks
Never to be killed with love they hold to each
As dear Mother lay to the side with her cold feet
Do not fear these painted tears on our faces
I am the hand of light reaching from dark places
We hear you in song holding your family in prayer
A brave warrior you be with the weight of war to bare
The casualty of wars discarded toys
No name to this chess piece upon the board of Troy
Earn this life to honour of your Mothers sacrifice
To be in remembrance of that time served
Be never borrowed but with love we return
Honoured in memory we sound out the battalions horn
Standing together by lighted candles at dawn
Bow our head so they may hold them high
Never leaving our post
We see their souls still marching by
