Blind Eyes

Yesterday you walk to the store
you find a man facing
with his back to you
on his arms there's a tattoo
of the night sky with the stars all in a ring
when he turns around to go
you see the tears streaming down his face
and then he's running
running through the streets
and all the men go blind
they're shooting at his stars
he's just a fugitive in motion
with a saturated smile
and they laugh as he runs
while he cries to them in pain
in his eyes there's a wolf
and it's burning in a fire
the people are all smiling
it's a happy holiday
he falls to the ground
and you see him with blind eyes
today he's in the paper and
his name is up in lights
with all the blind men who praise him
as he lies in the basement
of the big-city warehouse
where everybody goes someday
you walk into the store
to buy your bread and milk and bacon
then go home to your wife
to watch TV as you eat dinner
while the man who you praise
has come knocking at your door
he says come and see me
I've been lonely down there
in the dark in the gutter off the street
in the basement at the store
in the burning desert sun
you look at him
at the wolf in his fire
then you turn away 'cause you can't see him
with your blind eyes
tomorrow all the blind men
riding in a train
to the shrine of a man that they killed
but now they praise
he's a man to be remembered
he's a hero in his time
he's an institution
he's a revolution
he's a lullabye
so when the sun is shining
and the night sky is gone
the man's wolf will douse the fire
and come running from his eyes
and all the blind men who praise him
will reach out through the fog