I feel it in your voice

I sense it in your stare

I taste it in your tears,

a battle fought for countless years

while it all becomes the thought dismissed as they brush their hair

and the blood on the streets becomes the newest shade that they will wear.

I hear it in the lies

I fear it in my sleep

like the scent of graying smoke

leaving us to gag and choke,

I will never feel the same way when I hear those names again

and we will never wake up reassured that this is all pretend.