A Prayer for the Dying

And I’ve seen them for forty years
And I cried
It’s only the babies
And I remember hearing the president’s wife on TV
Saying how she wants to help the poor and starving kids in America
Ms. Bush, more babies are going to die in Iraq in one day
Than die in a month if we go to war
A prayer for the dying
I remember My Lai
Do you remember My Lai?
I remember My Lai
A prayer for the dying
The bodies of babies
And old people
And women
I think I was just going into junior high school
And I came home from school one day
And turned on the six o’clock network news
Their bodies lying in a huge pit
In Vietnam
After being massacred by American soldiers
Yes, I remember My Lai
A prayer for the dying
And I don’t want to see My Lai again on the six o’clock news
And we will
And we will
And the same people are running the show
Mr. Colin Powell
You were at My Lai
Tell us why you killed the babies
Tell us why you want to kill the babies again
To make your headmaster happy
Your headmaster’s father is responsible for the crack babies
A prayer for the dying
And I lived a thousand lives
And I died a thousand deaths