Stark/Spare

Stark, spare, and barely there
The ghetto moves beyond the knowledge or even consideration of the upper-middle riddles that just don't care

Stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?
They're stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?

Slumming ain't the answer to the cancer, poverty, that so many of the poor slipped into degree
Jesus walked among them, pausing to refresh, finally giving to the point of blood to share their emptiness
Mark and Teresa, Godspeed to you
Suffering in love when you don't have too
And, God, have mercy on the rest of us too, 'cause when we shut out the poor, Lord, we're shutting out you

Stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?
They're stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?

And Jesus walked among them, pausing to refresh, finally giving to the point of blood to share their emptiness
And we must walk among them, for we can do no less than what the saviour taught us by his life and by his death
For the truth is on our tables, the crumbs on our floors
We must give while we are able
Both Lazarus and our judge are at the door

Stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?
I'm talking 'bout stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?
They're stark, spare
Who cares?
Stark, spare
And tell me, who cares?