Wolves Ate First (Version 2)

Intro

Yard gate rusted red like dried blood on the latch

Granddad's whistle split the dark, three strays ran to match

He said feed the pack before you touch your own plate

Said hunger builds a loyalty that's stronger than hate

Verse

Scrapyard off Delmar, chain-link kissed by frost

Three dogs on a trailer chain, counting up the cost

He'd walk the fence line nightly with a bucket full of bone

Whistle twice for Diesel, once for the one called Stone

Winter of eighty-four, thieves came for the copper wire

Dogs ate first that evening, kept the whole block from the fire

He told me watch the porch light, not the moon up above

Said the pack protects the hand that feeds it more than love

Momma said he loved them dogs more than his own blood

He said blood don't guard a gate when the water floods

Taught me how to read a growl before it turns to teeth

Said silence is the warning waiting underneath

Sold the yard in ninety-five, kept the whistle on a chain

Wore it like a medal through the joy and through the pain

Say I got his eyes now, cold and steady, never blink

Learned to feed the ones who guard me first, before I think

Hook

Wolves ate first, that's the oldest law I know

Feed the ones who guard the gate before you eat alone

Empty plate don't mean you're starving, means you paid the toll

Wolves ate first, and that's how a man gets old

Verse

Now I run my own yard, different kind of chain

Corner boys instead of Rottweilers, same refrain

Youngest on the block eats first before I touch a dime

Learned that from a man who read the dark like scripture, line by line

Blanket and a plate for the one who holds the door

Loyalty ain't cheap, but it's the only thing that's sure

Seen a man get fat on promises and starve on trust

I'd rather owe a debt in meat than leave a debt in dust

Diesel died at twelve, buried by the fence he used to guard

Granddad cried just once — that's the only time I saw him hard

Said even wolves know grief, just don't let it show its teeth

Strength ain't never loud, it's just patient underneath

Still keep the whistle in my pocket, brass gone half gray

Blow it when the block gets thin, remind them of the way

Ain't about the money first, it's about who's fed and who ain't

That's the difference between a king and a man who just paints

Hook

Wolves ate first, that's the oldest law I know

Feed the ones who guard the gate before you eat alone

Empty plate don't mean you're starving, means you paid the toll

Wolves ate first, and that's how a man gets old

Bridge

Some nights I go hungry and don't tell n