Deep inside the darkness of the hallways of my mind
Are hidden covered statues of the ones I left behind
Cloaked in sadness, crowned with dust, the figures rest in half-repose
They wear their tears like necklaces, confusion is their clothes
And they bang against each other as they rattle in my head
They search their minds for memories of words I never said
But they know as well as I that someday my heart must return
For my destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
Empty roads they sprawl before me, easy rides throw forth their doors
My mind is caked with helplessness, my feet are caked with sores
I accept all without question under cloaks of brotherhood
I find my face loved thoughtlessly, my thoughts misunderstood
And I curse this barren air which drives me to the arms of one
Who just happens to be nearest on the dark night I’m alone
But even so I know one day I’ll crave their false concern
For my destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
The lonely sexless martyrs by the roads too dead to flee
Reach forth their claws with documents of false security
I tripped upon their strings of guilt and fell into the groove
Of a life where universes turn but humans never move
I finally escaped from their tomb and exposed their granite rites
But in this bottomless sea my arms may flail but never strike
And that which I may criticize I can never wholly spurn
For my destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
The steel clenched teeth of factories and refineries they wait
For new meat of the human flesh to fall within their gates
Offering sacrifice to money gods the hearts and blood of lives
And sledging minds and smashing bones on the stones from nine to five
And there comes a time when the bravest soul must make the compromise
With the puritan calloused ghosts inside authority’s disguise
And freedom falls ashamed beneath the whip that bites and burns
For our destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
The worn-out hands and the eggshell eyes of the kings upon the hill
Want to make me think there’s something that I must fulfill
Their armed guards trap and teach me my responsibility
Is to serve all those above me, that’s the world’s reality
Reality, I laugh, and look above the painted stage
And barely see the clouds before I duck another cage
And even as I run I know their bullets will return
For my destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
Silver guns are once more lifted from their racks and duly used
To keep the natives in their place and the corporals amused
And blasted sky-wide on the screen, the scene is black and white
And the choice is clear cut with a knife, you must either die or fight
As fathers send their sons to death convinced that something can be won
Then they blush at seas of blood as all men claim they weren’t the one
And vows of peace shoot through the air, but still those bodies burn
For our destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
The rain falls down on the graveyard towns and the heads of crowds which wait
And dust collects on the hands of clocks and on paintings locked in crates
And the warped and crippled cardsharks who have beat me in the past
Have fallen in their alleyways and each has breathed his last
And now, my friend, my time has come, I’ve paid my dues in pain
I’ve learned the one true way to live this life is naked, unafraid
And I’ve left my bridges behind me but they’re not meant to be burned
For my destiny is circular, that’s one thing that I’ve learned
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