Verse 1

We crossed the water when the ground refused us

We named the craters where the houses stood

The river fell so low it stopped believing

And what we grew to feed ourselves brought blood

We counted families in the rubble's grammar

Five names spoken where a table was

The elephant fell soft into the grasses

Poisoned by the hand that thought it good

Chorus

We are the ones who stay inside the burning

We are the ones who swim toward something vague

We don't ask anymore if this is ending

We only ask how long, we only ask how long

Verse 2

A boy pulled a trigger someone handed to him

Now two fathers measure out their years

A missile carved its signature in clay fields

And someone had to name what just appeared

The war persists because the peace costs something

And something always tips the scale toward more

We light no candles now, we count the crossings

We tally what the summer chose to floor

Chorus

We are the ones who stay inside the burning

We are the ones who swim toward something vague

We don't ask anymore if this is ending

We only ask how long, we only ask how long

Bridge

Thursday turns the same as every other

Heat upon the water, dust upon the road

We were not built to carry all of this

And yet we have not set it down

Outro

We only ask how long

We only ask how long

The river low, the border wide

We only ask how long

Instrumental Outro

How did it make you feel?

A new song arrives tomorrow.