No Longer The World I Knew

It is no longer early morning

It is no longer cool yet bright and warming

This is not the place where I was born

This is not the land where I was raised

There is no point in being angry

There is no profit to being sad

These are not the people who once knew my parents

These are not the values they taught us as children

There are no excuses I can give you

There are no reasons I could understand

It is far away from my home town

It is far from what I had expected

This is not the place of which I dreamed

This is not the wellspring of man’s hope

There is nowhere left where I could hide

There is nowhere else I have hope to find

These are not the fields we walked together

These are not the cities I once imagined

There are fewer things that we can count on

There is far more for which only faith can serve

It is not as quiet as it used to be

It is far easier to just go and shop

This is not what my father fought for

This is not what my uncles taught me

There is no longer room for doubt

There is no longer need of such good faith

These are not the Western skies I slept beneath

These are not the lakes in which I swam

There are still scattered pockets of resistance

There are fewer stars in each night’s sky

It is now that their family values must sustain us

It is a time to cast aside old reason

This is not the path I thought I followed

This is not the goal I sought

There is comfort in the words of our sponsors

There is safety in our righteous flock

These are not the ends they worked so hard for

This is not the gentle laughter that we shared

There are reasons to keep silent

There are judgments that will be made

It is late but all the lights still burn

It is not peaceful but they say we must be winning

This is less than we could have done

This is more than we should have taken

There is no longer any question

There is no halfhearted middle way

These are the days when we must not falter

These decisions cannot ever be regretted

There are no more secret places for the boys

There are no longer reasons for compromise

It is soon our debt comes due

It is not for hunger that we continue eating

This is not some cable movie

This should not be so easy to ignore

There is time to search for answers

There is good reason to avoid the questions

These are the things the old ones could remember

These are the times to reduce your dreams

There are those who would see us in hell

There are children in need of guidance

It is said things are getting better

It is not for lack of trying

This is not some rented movie

This is your son, somewhere face down

There is pride that decorates our folly

There is no more time for a peaceful twilight

These are not the winters I once witnessed

These are good times to promote consumption

There are now no children who await the summer

There are foolish secrets we’ve not been told

It is true that now folks live much longer

It also just happens food spoils more slowly

This is not the role that I was raised for

This is not the reason we removed the Indians

There is something on our hands

There is no reason to feel sad or guilty

These are not my wildest dreams

These are things my grandma would never imagine

There are logical reasons that we got here

There are still fine excuses to be used again