Fatima Mansions - As I Washed the Blood Off lyrics

As I washed the blood off she yelled at me Though no blows had been struck And she still looked so serene Then she started to cry Then she burst out laughing Then three sharp words in that warrior's tongue I'd learned them well Through this night in hell "I'm not ashamed of my body I never said you hurt me With your faithless wit and your aimless guile And your [fall from] hands and your shame faced smile Everything you touch is gonna turn to dust!" Not a stone will stand upon a stone Not a stone will stand upon a stone As I washed the blood off she laughed at me And asked whose reincarnation I might be I said, "I'm not your father Or the-two legged beast who scarred you Though I have done great wrongs of my own." They were long ago So how could you know? I never asked for your pity That's just as well if you ask me Then the lights went out And a rumble built to become a roar But she screamed, "it's you! Every day you wake is gonna end in hate!" Not a stone will stand upon a stone Not a stone will stand upon a stone I didn't know what to do How could I tell her the truth? I climbed up out of her hall And went to sleep on the roof When I woke up to the sun Her brother brought me some food And we played cards until 'noon Five stories up from [...?] The pools of blood and the blasted rocks And the children screaming who will never stop And the blast of heat And the stench of gas And the lost dogs fighting over human scraps And she called to us from the street beneath "My footloose ways will be the d**h of me!" And she took the hand of a drunk militia captain Not a stone will stand upon a stone Not a stone will stand upon a stone As I washed the blood off she spat at me And said it's about time you died My outbound train gave a sickening lurch And I hung my head and cried For shame I sat and cried I could not help but cry