We Were Younger Then

arab architects
are strung up by their necks
singing
hallelujah
hallelujah
Blessed be the Lord
and now I’m drifting through the streets
drinking gypsy wine
saying
I can’t believe how strange it is
to be alive right now
I remember when comfort was not an option
but we were younger then
if you need some quiet time
to process all that guilt
well, the desert lasts for days and out there
there’s nothing else to do
round here they turn ocean into land
and sell that land for gold
then use that gold to build themselves bigger
better homes
I see cranes on the horizon
I remember when comfort was not an option
we were younger then
disciplined and strange
focused and restrained
we were younger then
when I go to sleep
I hardly ever dream
and when I’m wide awake
I can’t believe what I see
I remember when comfort was not an option
we were younger then
only in pictures before have I seen
anything like from where I am standing
looking I can’t tell where the city stops
and the nothing begins
the nothing begins.