The Fisherman
Fabiano Negri
Forget the fables, the myths of the youth
There is no nectar, just the salt of the truth
Sing of a man, just water and grit
Born in a gutter where the lanterns aren't lit
No holy mother, no carpenter's pride
Just a debt to be paid and nowhere to hide
He fed on the scraps of the Empire's plate
A bastard of sorrow, a product of hate
The gods were just statues, heavy and cold
While the priests counted silver and mercy was sold
He didn't see light or a spirit in flight
He saw how a blade catches gleams in the night
Burn down the nets, let the old world go
Where the taxman reaps what the hollowed-out sow
There is no kingdom, just the dirt in your hand
And the cold fire of vengeance for every man
The agitator grew in the dust and the heat
Till the gold of the temple looked like rot in the street
A feverish fever took shape in his head
A world for the living, or a feast for the dead
He walked to the water with a desperate plan
To weaponize hope in the heart of a man
We'll hunt for the masters: He spat to the crowd
Till the backs of the kings are broken and bowed
Forget the high heavens, the pitiless sky–
The only judge left is the look in your eye
They dropped their tools for a radical greed
The dirt was thirsty to swallow the seed
For three years he mirrored the ugliness back
Painting the Sun in a charcoal of black
The road led to stone, to the city of walls
To the shadow of meat-hooks in government halls
I'll walk to the center: He grinned like a ghost
To burn down the fence and the watchman's post
If I rot in the Sun, if I'm bled of my name
Don't look for a spirit, just carry the flame
Let them shatter the bone, let them stretch out the skin
The chaos is out, and they can't lock it in
He was hung like a dog on a hill of despair
A carcass left blackening in the dead air
No ghost in the garden, no hole in the cave
No hand from the clouds reached into the grave
Just a corpse on a timber, a stain on the dark
A failed revolution that lost every spark
The miracle's dead, and the savior is gone–
But the infection of hate is just coming on