Look me in the eyes

Or do you dare?

Are my colors brighter

than you can bear?

Or is my story darker 

than you will own?

For you are each a thread

with which I’m sewn 

 

Don’t I have a voice

to tell my tale?

Give me but a breeze

and let me sail!

I have been the watcher

of men and kings

Would you crush my soul 

and clip my wings?

 

I am born of blood

and cloud and sky

Battle rage and smoke

has seared my eyes

But I am born of you

your own hearts’ rage

Would you lock yourself

within a cage?

 

I have felt my heart throb

from glory and pain

I am stretched in caverns

where my sons are lain

I’ve been ripped by steel

and torn by lead

Would you rob a blanket 

from off the dead?

 

I am your own mirror

for good or ill

I reflect your faces

and your free will

I reveal the whole of you

both love and hate

Condemning me must bind you

to share my fate