The Hand He Plays

One shallow grave. A thousand futures. And he still has a hand to play. Two heads high in the killing heat, A hundred miles on bleeding feet. For farms and votes, our rifles roar - A nation worth one battle more. Caesar commands; the weak obey. We burn the names of tribes away. One Bull, one law, one world made strong - The road is safe. The chain is long. I kept the neon from the flame; The next two centuries bear my name. Bring me the chip. I'll build the sky. Why crawl through dust when we could fly? No Bear, no Bull, no master's throne; This city's future is its own. A smiling screen, a chance to try - The word is yes. The stakes are high. Courier Six, with the world at stake, How many futures can one man make? He can raise a flag or let it fall - The hand he plays will change us all. Lock the doors and guard the spark; We keep old thunder in the dark. Let nations rust; our oath stays sealed - The world must earn what we won't yield. Bitter Springs still stains our sleep; We are the names the canyons keep. Break our bodies, take our land - The Khans still rise. The Khans still stand. Our bomber sleeps beneath the blue; We dream of skies we'll thunder through. Till then, stay back beyond our walls - Our welcome comes in cannonballs! Old armor waits beside the door; These shaking hands remember war. Not gone. Not dust. Not buried yet - There's thunder left you won't forget. No crown can teach a child to read; No flag can stop a wound that bleeds. Bring books and hands, not one more throne - No one should face this waste alone. We keep the beat beyond the gate; No silk-suit lord decides our fate. In Freeside, crowns don't cost a thing - Stand tall, stand proud, walk like a king. Courier Six, with the world at stake, How many futures can one man make? He can raise a flag or let it fall - The hand he plays will change us all. At the Tops, we make disaster swing; At our table, any fool's a king. Silk and secrets, debts and vice - Every favor has a price. White gloves lift the silver lid; Smile, and never ask what we hid. They gave us chains and dynamite; We sent their orders up in light. No law, no sleep, just chems and screams; We are the teeth in Vegas' dreams. A book, a gun, a scar, a prayer - We seek God's road through our despair. Beside the Burned Man, here we stand; Our name won't die at your command. We know the trails, we know our kin - The Bull won't take the world we're in. The Father taught us how to care; His caves still hold our whispered prayer. Must gentle hands be taught to kill, Or leave the streams that know us still? We burn your homes to earn our place; The Bull must learn the White Legs' face. No fields to sow, no walls to mend - We take until the rivers end. Courier Six, with the world at stake, How many futures can one man make? He can raise a flag or let it fall - The hand he plays will change us all. Your gold means nothing in this air; We own the silence of despair. The masks stay sealed; the red Cloud breathes. We fall. We rise. Nobody leaves. Five minds crackle behind the glass; Flesh is a phase that ought to pass. Hold still! The future needs your brain - A little progress, lots of pain. Once Bear, once Bull; now stripped of skin, The storm outside, the fire within. Our nations left us here to rot - We are the war the world forgot. A package broke a sleeping land. What breaks - or heals - beneath his hand? Courier Six, with the world at stake, How many futures can one man make? He can raise a flag or let it fall - The hand he plays will change us all. No crown is won. No fate is sealed. The final card is unrevealed. A thousand futures. One hand to play.