Two Pencils and a Photograph

Before I left I wasn't anyone

A poor laborer's lonely son

And I dreamed of women, gold, and guns

But they were only dreams

The call to cause that needed me

My sleight of hand and my strong belief

For the west it reigns in a sinful beast

That threatens everything

But swing that hammer, it's an awful shame

To watch paper fall from a stranger's hand

Where's the glory in all of that?

Couple pencils and a photograph

The day I left, my mama cried

And I was proud to go and proud to fight

And a blood red sun rose in the sky

And I bent my body east

I found my brothers in the sand

All that artillery and promising

And we bravely faced the task at hand

To cut and kill the beast

But swing that hammer, it's an awful shame

To watch paper fall from a stranger's hand

Where's the glory in all of that?

Couple pencils and a photograph

I took a plane, fulfilled my place

A crowded market and an office space

And the heat of heaven, that metallic taste

And I watched that paper fall

I came to slay, I came to serve

My weapons weighed against the written word

And I cried out, Allah, and he cried, my Lord

Heaven help us all

But swing that hammer, it's an awful shame

To watch paper fall from a stranger's hand

Where's the glory in all of that?

Couple pencils and a photograph