Nautical

The day that civil glory dismembered my civility
I could have parted ribs and flesh
like a different kind of Red Sea
Drowned the ancient east in western progress
Custom and the least of all our pride and sentiments
Which turned out to be the closest thing
to a fashion trend
That's ever been put on trial
Which turned out to be the closest thing
to a fashion trend
That's ever been put on trial
The rest was cast off as denial
of statehood and mastery;
The ultimate form of treason
is the treacherous use of reason
Employed by the bastard sons of
American fore-fathers who keep this fire burning
With the flesh of their would-be American daughters,
daughters, daughters, daughters!!

What will happen to our children
when the least of us pass on?
Us who fought the monsters
of our country's crowded closet
Us who dropped the bombs
on goodness when we saw it wasn't flawless
Us whose youthful life was hostage to what harm did
Us who fought the hardest to be swept under the carpet

And I'm still a cigarette softly smoking
on the edge of a metal ashtray
I begged this place to let me burn,
and it whispered, "burn away"