Beneath the Coliseum

We come from different ages
Hungry for the gutters of the town
Looking for our faces in the rocks
And broken columns on the ground
Now we stand beside the bones of men
Beside the bones of gods
Waiting for the ghosts that live in history’s backyard
We killed them once before
The second time it shouldn’t be so hard
But if we lie here who will sleep with us
If we cry here who will see through us
If we die here who will speak to us of mysteries
Show us that our history is a fabric
That get’s torn right at the seams
But some day we won’t be far from her
A foreigner beneath the coliseum
Yes some day we’ll be a part of her
Foreigners beneath the coliseum
Now when you first left your family
You held your passport so tight
And you had your picture taken
Standing by the ruins of my life
As you shuffled through the deck
And open with the queen of hearts
You can feel your mother’s eyes
In the pictures of the cards
You killed her once before
The second time it shouldn’t be so hard
But if you lie here who will sleep with you
If you cry here who will see through you
If you die here who will speak to you and take your hands
Try to very gently sand the edges
Off of all your mother’s dreams
Well someday you won’t be far from her
A foreigner beneath the coliseum
Someday you won’t be far from here
A foreigner beneath the coliseum
Well now the evening lamps are being lit
And the streets are filled with soldiers
Young girls go into dark young face and come out so much older
But like statues that have lost their arms
And temples with no gods
They only know their distance
From the things they haven’t got
They lose more every night
By now you think it wouldn’t be so hard
But if I lie here who will sleep with me
If I cry here who will see through me
If I die here who will save me from my innocence
Try to tell me what she meant
When she said where the money that God forgot to spend
Well someday I won’t be far from her
A foreigner beneath the coliseum
Someday I won’t be far from her
A foreigner beneath the coliseum
Someday I won’t be far from her
A foreigner beneath the coliseum