Steel Talons

In lands afar, where sun doth blaze
And heathen shadows mar the days
There rose a cry, a trumpet's sound
To cleanse the earth, to hallow ground
With banners high and swords aloft
They march'd in steel, their hearts full soft
To lands where blood like rivers flow'd
And faith in Christ the path bestow'd

The iron tide did sweep the plain
As lion's roar and lion's mane
With crosses red on armor bright
They claim’d the lands by holy might
Yet in the dusk where serpents hide
The sins of men did there abide
In blood and fire, in ash and dust
The gold of heaven turn’d to rust

For lo, the palm and olive tree
Doth weep beneath the tyrant's plea
As brother falls by brother's hand
And blood doth stain the sacred sand
The city walls, they crumbled down
As swords did flash and faith did frown
The cries of woe, the songs of pain
Did echo through the fields of slain

In noble cause, in righteous fight
They sought to bring the heathen light
But shadows deep did cloak their way
And led them far from virtue's day
For in the quest to cleanse the land
They lost the grace of God's command
And in the fire of zealot's flame
They wrought their glory and their shame

Now stands the ruins, bleak and bare
The bones of saints and sinners there
A testament to fervor's strife
Where faith did cut with sharpen'd knife
Yet in the night, the stars do gleam
And whisper soft of heaven's dream
That in the heart where peace doth dwell
The true crusade shall conquer hell