Empty smiles, the men who were so hated,
at eight the door was opened, seats were filled;
black and white, they sat and prayed and waited.

The noise behind the counter slowly faded,
the diners at the bar their movement stilled.
Empty smiles, the men who were so hated.

Black and white, together, integrated;
impassioned students, enduringly strong-willed.
Black and white, they sat and prayed and waited.

Passion’s will at once intoxicated
he whose blood-red hands had children killed.
Empty smiles, the men who were so hated.

Those reddened hands had long anticipated;
to take another life they were so thrilled.
Black and white, they sat and prayed and waited.

Black bodies in the snow were insulated
though justice will not ever be fulfilled.
Empty smiles, the men who were so hated;
black and white, they sat, and prayed, and waited.