San Francisco Courthouse Steps

I slept in a memory of pride
for a friend sleeping stronger than me
in a dream of a home where he slept next to lovers in peace

And I slept in a memory of guilt
for the worries that keep me awake
in a fragment of earth that I spent twenty years trying to shake

Out west there's a stone and a flower
in memory of things turned to dust
a song sung to wolves while they fed on a book full of rust

In time we'll be written in history
as barbaric, short sighted, and slow
To use common sense with the purpose to flourish and grow

Oh, how we love what we know