The Sacrifice - David Wilcox

I got the call at midnight, as the rain began to come

And it may have been just fireworks but they said they heard a gun

So I left the siren silent, ‘cause whatever’s done is done

The blood of the innocent — getting washed away

Mixed with the endless tears — of the stormy sky

He’s there — on the pavement wet with rain

I touch beneath his jaw line, for life under the skin

He’s face down on the pavement, his neck is cold and thin

So I’ll need some information from the two who called it in

‘Cause the moment that it’s over is the moment it begins

Blood of the innocent — getting washed away

The flash of the cruiser lights — on the stormy sky

I know the routine — I tape off the scene

But sometimes I wonder what it means

The mortal remains — out in the rain,

To cleanse all the violence and the pain

The drought in the field, the altar must bleed

Stained with some ancient human need

To turn on our own and speak for the sky:

Someone must die, for the storm to cry

Now I have to call the family.

I have to speak what can’t be said

My badge covers my own heart, but the questions hurt my head

They’ll start crying up to heaven asking why their boy is dead

Blood of the innocent — getting washed away

Mixed with the endless tears — of the stormy sky…

It could have been me, It could have been you

It could have been anyone we knew

Nothing will change.

No one to blame,

The thunder will rumble just the same