They cast us still in iron stance
Hands clenched tight with softened teeth
The plaque says Glory polished clean
But we recall the ash beneath
Tourists touch my shoulder now
Believing luck will scrape through bronze
My eyes were left unfinished
Too much truth would break the gloss
They say we stood for something
They say we earned the frame
But metal knows the bending
And sweat forgets its name
We don’t weep like softer figures
We don't bleed we don't explain
What we carry isn’t rust
It’s memory in the strain
The sculptor drank with foremen
His chisel didn’t lie
He carved us with a silence
That outlasts any cry
We don’t crack like ancient columns
We just hold what we contain
Frozen fists and hollow armor
Statues that never knew rain
