What is Left Me but the Blues?

I kissed the naked earth with blistered feet
left drops of blood on every burning street
because I had no shoes.
So what is left me but the blues?

I say I'm a free woman. Easy claim,
but look: beside me is a man in chains
and he is me and I am you.
So what is left us but the blues?

The madman begging at the corner store
is a veteran of a foreign war
that he did not choose.
So what is left him but the blues?

There's a girl in town just turned nineteen,
homeless mother, straight-A student, squeaky clean
I think she's got a lot to lose.
May God keep her from these blues.

In the echo of the gun and the shadow of the knife
my sisters and my brothers fight for their lives
and when they lose
then, what is left me but the blues?

The crime's not over once the reports are filed
when the victim on ice at the morgue is a child.
It was on the news.
Now what is left me but the blues?

That boy could be my cousin, he could be your brother,
you are the weeping father and the shattered mother,
you might be a burning fuse.
What else is left you but the blues?

Nine long minutes, he said “I can’t breathe”
the officer’s knee offered no relief
Like a hangman’s noose!
Another verse in these stinkin’ blues.

Been a long time coming, got to end this dance.
We tell the world there's no more second chance,
you dare not refuse.
Give us justice. Take away these blues.

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