Matisyahu - Aish Tamid

The place lays phased like a warrior slayed Engraved into the space with his sword still raised Layers of charcoal sprayed through hallways Praise relays off the walls echoing all ways Dirt covered earth lays beneath my rib cage Giving birth to overgrowth invading on to path ways Burnt out trees cover streets where children once played Sown seeds decay through sacred stepping stones in disarray Where the alter used to be placed inter-changed for bloodstains Sunrays illuminate the smoke filled haze Trace of incense scents of sacrifice stayed Aish tamid eternally A fire burns continuously Wondering where you been Won't you come on home to me? Flash back patches of grass growing wild in fact Cracked walls burnt black like a kingdom sacked Memories like artifacts attacked yet still intact Melodies wrapped in glass and shatter with the impact Air intermingling ringing with the singing of songs once sung, hung, flung into the rafters Catastrophe struck the sound stuck Disaster plastered The aftermath a blasted building once standing, like a starved man fasting the skies expanding clouds passing, dust particles dancing, in broken bars of light, streaming from a shaft, slashed into the ceiling, Sshhhh, you could feel the ground breathing. Daughter of Zion is lying crying in the mist Morning light slips in, shifting through the darkness Like a morning wife reminisce having visions of her long gone prince Memories drip rain drops tip towing emptiness Intermixed with tears like fears left unfixed Walls worn thin frozen fortress like dawn waiting for the sunrise of a day that got skipped Like a life gone wrong wandering wilderness Lovesick stripped abyss empty once luscious Paint the scene so you could see, the city's picking up speed On a bench 14th street, taxi's streaming yellow streaks Spears piercing through my ears, you could hear the traffic speak Jack hammers drill smacking through the cracking concrete Buildings filled with windowsills spilled tangled telephone wires Signs sparking neon lights flash like wild fire My insides rise I start to feel paralyzed Let out a sigh-a melody blew by- like an ancient war cry the way the sunlight hit the trees it really caught my eye, glistening' listening' to the breeze dancing' through the leaves, freeze, the city move's in slow motion like a dream I'm left empty like the temple turned into a fox den Bus fumes dripping spitting into city summer sun Sifting through the ash dimly lit vision listening To the hiss lifting off a nighttime ocean Shim, shim, shimmering singing hair on my skin Glim, glim. Glimmering, whispering where ya been From amidst the darkness set sail with the softness Breeze traveling across the seas arisen from with in Mt. Zion Wind coming in picking up momentum Cutting crisply through the thickness riding on a rhythm A rollercoaster sizzling, twisting down the mountain ripping rocket ship exploding like a fountain overflowing spilling through the courtyards of Jerusalem Uncovering debris lifting up the fallen arisen within to reach the yiddin even in Manhattan exposed menorah glowing in the shadows of destruction trailblazing through affliction brushing off the branches golden standing strong flames dancing like a lion roaring rising out of nothing