It Can't Be Helped

drive out the old and the children
take them, the orphaned, the young
gouge out the lives of the righteous
name them informants and spies
drive out the mothers, the fathers
take them, the hopeful, the loved
tell them «shikata ga nai»
cage innocents in barbed wire fucking fences
we wash these wounds with salt and lye
tear down the shacks
with runes write spells to redact what we’ve seen with our own eyes
shikata ga nai
carve out new meanings for justice
citizens' process abridged
remedy race fear with prisons
dress up the reasons with lies
carve out the lives of your people
those you’ve been sworn to defend
give them no answer that’s valid
turn immigrants to stateless refugees
we hold these truths to be untrue
just shred the evidence
we do what we must do
wash these wounds
wear this scar
go on, feign ignorance
go on, rewrite the darkness
go on, feign tolerance
go on, we write the story
why? never mind
patriots never ask these questions
go on, claim safety
go on, inhuman beings
go on, stain liberty
it can’t be helped