This Morning's Verse

The dawn came cold on Baltimore's shore A rumble heard, and then a mighty roar The Dali ship, a giant lost its wayAnd the steel bones of the Francis Scott Key Bridge gave way Six souls were lost to the Patapsco's chill Another titan built by human will Now lies in ruins 'neath the morning gray Just like the stories of a bygone day. Oh, the wind it blows, and the river it runs 'Neath the fading moons and the rising suns They're writing headlines on a digital page But it's the same old story on a different stage Pride and ruin, power and its cost Another treasure built, another treasure lost.

In halls of marble, nine robed figures sit To judge the words the government thinks fit They talk of platforms, whispers, and of posts Of digital town squares haunted by their ghosts From Missouri's plea to the Texas law They draw the lines on what the world once saw As free-flung speech, now filtered through a screen The oldest argument, a different scene. Oh, the wind it blows, and the river it runs 'Neath the fading moons and the rising suns They're writing headlines on a digital page But it's the same old story on a different stage Pride and ruin, power and its cost

Another treasure built, another treasure lost. The wings of Boeing, once they owned the sky Now hear the whispers as the stocks slip by A door flies open on an outbound flight And shakes a kingdom in the fading light The CEO, Calhoun, he bows his head Too many warnings left unread A giant stumbles, built on skill and pride With nowhere left for it to run or hide. A bridge of steel, a fortress in the air A web of words that everyone must share We build them higher, faster, and so proud Then watch them crumble back into the shroud

I've seen it built with timber, stone, and bone I've seen the kings fall from a wobbly throne. Oh, the wind it blows, and the river it runs 'Neath the fading moons and the rising suns They're writing headlines on a digital page But it's the same old story on a different stage Pride and ruin, power and its cost Another treasure built, another treasure lost.