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