Northern Fires
Silent Planet Lyrics

Ration my breath - terror clandestine in my chest.
I'm terrified, and I'm struggling to stay calm even though I'm barely able to breathe.

Mangled, I lay on a foreign forest floor.
I'm injured and lying on the ground in a foreign forest.

Caught in an instant, divided by distance.
I'm separated from my comrades by distance and we're all in danger.

Alone in the fray, clutching my trigger I pray as I make amends with death on a distant shore.
I'm alone, fighting for my life, and I'm resigned to the possibility of dying.

Such is the fate of the nation state (despite the myths they propagate).
Despite what we're told, the reality is that the nation state often leads to violence and destruction.

The narrative never fits the crime.
The story that's told about conflicts and wars never fully captures the reality of what happened.

Democracy's died this death a thousand times.
Democracy has failed many times, leading to war and tragedy.

The masses kneel before the golden cross - held by the priest who bows at the feet of the king.
The people are often subservient to the powerful elites who use religion and tradition to maintain their power.

We stand alone in the dust of what could be, fighting to find our humanity.
Despite the chaos around us, we're still striving to be human and hold onto our dignity and values.

Bury me with my name in an unmarked grave - another casualty to the vanity of history.
I'm resigned to the fact that I might die and be forgotten by history, just another victim of war.

The war marches on after the killing ends.
Even after the conflict is over, its effects and ramifications continue to linger.

Take our lives: Colonize our minds.
The powers that be try to control not only our physical lives, but also our thoughts and beliefs.

I've been digging through timelines, historical bylines I find the fatal flaw in our design lies between thoughts we had and words we knew - between what we're told and what is true.
In looking at history, I realize that the real problem lies in the disconnect between what we believe and what's actually real.

Who fuels the fascist? A classist - inculcating the masses in passes under the contrived countenance of contrition.
Those who promote fascist ideologies often do so to maintain their own power and privilege while hiding behind a facade of false remorse.

The victor writes the story - more often burns the manuscript.
The winner of a conflict often has the power to shape the narrative of what happened, and will sometimes try to destroy evidence that contradicts that narrative.

Set fire to a pyre, cremate the crimes that they commit. But the flames kept us warm, so we bit our tongues and tasted scorn.
Although we might want to destroy the evidence of the crimes committed by those in power, we can't ignore the fact that those same powers are what give us warmth and protection, even if we despise them.