Were You There?

Were You There?

were you there that day, Lord, when the twin towers fell

and on the gallows when we sent that dictator to hell

were you there when the man broke his vows to his wife

and that lonely, young girl finally took her own life

when that animal, Lord, for absolutely no reason

was finally hunted into extinction

were you there, Lord, when the mother killed the child in her womb

when the junkie took his last shot in that dark hotel room

when the young soldier’s legs were brutally shattered

and I stepped over him as if he’d never mattered

when a sick, homeless man, Lord, small sign in hand

begged for only a fraction of what others have

were you there, Lord, when the gunman shot a class full of kids

so that he’d be remembered for the evil he did

when the unemployed man full of shame and despair

lost his home to the banker who just didn’t care

when the woman who had been, Lord, raped and abused

lay down for the pornographer’s camera and crew

were you there, Lord, when the prisoner’s ultimate fate

was carried out in the yard by another inmate

when an old woman, her family and friends all now gone

simply gave up and died in the small nursing home

when the priest raped the child, Lord when the man beat his mate

is our generation doomed to suffer the same fate

were you there, Lord, when the drunk coming home from the bar

killed a mother and her children driving home in their car

when the vulture crept closer to a child starved by war

when greed made one man rich and another man poor

a dog kicked and abused, one child bullies another

when a young man deserts his child and her mother

of course, you were there, Lord and you must cry in sorrow

as your children have thrown away all their tomorrows

your mercy is as far as from east is to west

and we have selfishly put your love to the test

perhaps we will learn, Lord, to be your children again

and earn the right one day to stand in your heaven