When the Bells Went Silent

We marched on mud and cinders Boots chewing through the dawn Three days with split lips and bad news And still that bell went on Far off above the smoke line One thin struck note at night Like somebody kept saying Hold on, you’re still alive We cursed the frozen distance We laughed to keep from prayer Said if the saints were busy They could at least stay there Then the bell cut clean Like a rope gone slack No echo, no second ring And the whole world went black When the bells went silent We knew When the bells went silent Too late for you We ran on rage and cinders We ran on borrowed breath When the bells went silent We found the city dead (when the bells went silent) (too late for you) The gate was split like firewood The wall was caved in low A horse lay in the fountain With one eye turned to snow The market was a bonfire The baker’s shop was ash A joke still hung on the doorframe “Take your bread and don’t come back” We found a boy’s red mitten Half-buried in the dust A helm with both cheekplates peeled off A stone saint cracked across the chest And every step said name them Every brick said why We came to break the siege There was no siege to break When the bells went silent We knew When the bells went silent Too late for you We ran on rage and cinders We ran on borrowed breath When the bells went silent We found the city dead (when the bells went silent) (too late for you) Then we saw the wagon ruts Cut east through the rye Boot prints by the riverbank Small ones, side by side A milk pot, a baby shoe A torn sack of flour A charcoal mark on the wall: “East. Don’t stop. Keep moving.” So the bastards missed the people They only took the stone They burned the name, not the living The living were the home When the bells went silent We knew When the bells went silent Too late for you But not too late for sisters Not too late for sons Not too late for old men Not too late for the young We turned our faces eastward No one looked around If they want the city’s people They can die on open ground When the bells went silent We knew When the bells went silent Too late for you But not too late for living Not too late to run them down We were late to save the city Now the hunt is east of town (when the bells went silent) (we came for blood)