Dead City

Something big and bright
 Looms outside my window
 Choked with promise
 Smother in hope
 Days plod on like machines of ceaseless ruin
 Lost in a forest of haunted buildings
 I'm the feeble crack of light
 That shines in spite of all
 I'm held in place by a fragile base
 I'm the feeble crack of light
 That shines in spite of all
 I'll rest in denial
 I'll hide here for a while
 With each sundown comes sickness
 With each sunrise surrender
 And still they come deaf and dumb
 Days of incessant woe
 The walk is paved in shame
 The cement blocks and common sense
 The lowly steep in mockery
 The exalted drained all our strength