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