The Granite Gaze

Are we the ones left behind
By those who weave cords that bind?
They draw the marrow from our very bones
And we in turn, turn on our own

Stood in line in horsehair shirts
We queued up to eat the dirt
We traded lumps on narrow streets
Can't bite the hand when you've no teeth

And it's a standing ovation for the shadow of a stone
As we dig into the soil beneath our homes
The future's further day-by-day as our fathers turn away
And leave us clinging to a mother who eats her own

The granite gaze upon us now
A skulking mass recalling how
To plant a secret and tell no lies
For now we own those same stone eyes

And it's the last gasp of wonder for a cretin on a throne
As our daughter's sneak away across the foam
The future's just a thing we say to keep the sordid past at bay
Still we cling on to the mother who eats her own

We are the ones left behind
In swaddling bound with bailing twine
They stole the marrow from our very bones
And we in turn turned on our own