The Burned Man’s Hymn

In Zion, the canyon keeps whispering names Of sinners, of soldiers, of ashes and flames One man walks wrapped in the weight of his sin With a Bible, a pistol, and fire within I wore the red banner, I marched in the dust I traded my mercy for conquest and trust The desert remembers what men try to hide Every road has a judgment, every scar has a price They called me a monster, a blade without shame The Legate of Malpais, a curse with a name But crowns made of iron still break in the hand When blood stains the river at Hoover Dam Pitch on my skin, sky turning black Falling through silence, no road leading back But death did not take me And hell let me go So I crawled through the dark Where the bitter winds blow I am the Burned Man, still standing in the flame Wrapped in my penance, carrying my name I have been broken, but I have not bowed I speak like a prayer, I strike like a vow Let the canyon answer, let the dead stones ring Mercy is a blade when the wolves come in I am the Burned Man, scarred but alive A hymn in the ashes of Zion's light New Canaan was calling through smoke in the west A home for the guilty, a grave for the blessed I found no forgiveness in bandages alone Only the weight of the seeds I had sown Now the Dead Horses gather where red cliffs rise With dust on their faces and fire in their eyes The White Legs come howling like ghosts without names And I feel old anger awaken again Lord, make me righteous, or make me restrained Do not let vengeance wear heaven's face For I know the hunger that sharpens the hand And calls every grave by the name of command I am the Burned Man, still standing in the flame Wrapped in my penance, carrying my name I have been broken, but I have not bowed I speak like a prayer, I strike like a vow Let the canyon answer, let the dead stones ring Mercy is a blade when the wolves come in I am the Burned Man, scarred but alive A hymn in the ashes of Zion's light Every morning I change these wounds Every morning the fire is new Every breath is a debt I pay Every silence remembers my rage Was I spared to forgive, or spared to fight? To bury the wrath, or make it right? In the shadow of cliffs where the river runs red I count all the living, I answer the dead I am the Burned Man, still standing in the flame Wrapped in my penance, carrying my name I have been broken, but I have not bowed I speak like a prayer, I strike like a vow Let the canyon answer, let the dead stones ring Mercy is a blade when the wolves come in I am the Burned Man, scarred but alive A hymn in the ashes of Zion's light I am the Burned Man But I am not the fire I am not Caesar, not the old empire I am the warning carved into the sand That no holy word can cleanse a bloody hand Let Zion remember, let the night divide Between wrath and grace, between death and life I am the Burned Man, walking toward dawn Still singing for mercy when the bullets are gone In Zion, the canyon keeps whispering names Of sinners, of soldiers, of ashes and flames One man walks on where the red cliffs shine Half wrath, half prayer, still seeking the line