Under The Heat

Like a snap of the fingers
It was just that quick
The building had fallen
And shattered and
Melted under the heat

We found a buddy
Who was covered in blood
He kept trying to get up and look
Lay down, lay down, lay down marine
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

"Take your cameras and
get out of here"
"Forget it" said the C.O.
"You're out of line,
you're angry, I'm angry,
they're angry,
just do the job."
Under the heat

We stopped to listen for voices
And then we'd dig with
Whatever we had
Listen and dig, listen and dig,
Listen and dig
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

Reaching through this
Curtain of fear
My arms are stretched
Beyond the limit
I take the heat from
Streaming tears
To bear the cold and
Walk out in it
Walk out in it

My plans for the future
Are a frozen picture
That has fallen and
Shattered and melted
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

--Papers fluttered in the gentle October
breeze and a page from a pocket-sized
Bible lay on the ground. It was open to
the book of Psalms. The passage said,
"For they do not talk of peace, but
against the quiet ones of the land they
plot treacharies..."

From the San Fransisco Chronicle
Monday, October 24, 1983