A Friend Lost

A Friend Lost
A friend has fallen
Into the machine
Ground into ashes
A sacrifice unseen

We have our rituals
For our individual mourning
Wringing our hands
Perpetually performing

He was not the first
Nor will he be the last
The machine will consume
And its waste will be vast

We will lament the horror
Of this terrible machine
And the lifelong war
That has become routine

Yet with every friend lost
Our tolerance dies
From the void created
A fire will arise

For every friend lost
We suffer a great tragedy
Yet for every child born
We must correct this reality

We fight this machine
Even when victory is impossible
Because for these children born
We must be responsible

And so we throw ourselves
Into this terrible machine
In hopes that finally
Our conscience be clean