He Lays In Reins
One more drink tonight as your gray stallion rests
Where he lays in the reins
For all of the speed and the strength he gave
One more kiss tonight from some tall stable
girl
She’s like grace from the earth
When you’re all tuckered out and tame
One more tired thing the gray moon on the
rise
When your want from the day
Makes you to curse in your sleep at night
One more gift to bring we may well find you
laid
Like your steed in his reins
Tangled too tight and too long to fight
Prison on Route 41
There’s a prison on Route 41
Home to my father, first cousin, and son
And I visit every weekend
Not with my body but with prayers that I send
I’ve a reason for my absentee
And no lack of love for my dear family
But my savior is not Christ the Lord
But one named Virginia whom I live my life for
And if I don’t mind to her
I’d rot in that prison for sure
Yeah, she’d toss me aside
And I’d surely wait to die
By decree, law, or demand
So unlike my uncle, grandpa, and great aunt
Whom I’d most likely see every day
If not for the righteous grand Virginia’s way
There’s a prison on route 41
Home to my mother, stepbrother, and son
And I’d tear down that jail by myself
If not for Virginia who made me somebody else
And I owe it to her
I’d rot in that prison for sure
Yeah, she’d toss me aside
And show me the way to die
By the precepts of her purity
So unlike the habits of my whole family
Whom I only see down on my knees
In prayer by Virginia whom I live for to please
History of Lovers
Louise only got from me innocent poetry
Although she played to not listen
But still I can hear myself speak as if no one else
Ever could offer the same
Some say she knowingly tastes like a recipe
Although so foolish and willing
I said Babe I can picture you bend as if wanting to
Bow as the curtain went down
Coddle some men, they'll remember you bitterly
Fuck 'em, they'll come back for more
I asked my Louise would she leave and so cripple me
Then came a knock at the door
?I came for my woman,? he came with a razor
blade
Bound like us all for the ocean
I hope that she's happy I'm blamed for the death of
The man who would take her from me
Some they saw in me innocent poetry
Some, some they'll never be certain
But still it's been written, a history of lovers
Given and taken in ink
Coddle some men, they'll remember you fittingly
Cut ?em, they'll come back for more
I asked my Louise would she leave and so cripple me
Then came the knock at the door
Louise came to rescue me; listen, the irony:
Blood made her heart change its beating
I hope that she's happy I'm blamed for the death of
The man she found better than me
Red Dust
Dust gets red, and red dust plays
On the wind near Daniel's place
Danny's sick and smaller boy
Rhythm lingers on and on
On and on, on and on
Dust gets dead the sun gone down
Danny's boy lies in the ground
Guitar on the dead boy's chest
Devil's granting a last request
Play on and on, on and on
16, Maybe Less
Beyond the ridge on the left, you asked me
what I want
Between the trees and the chirping by the shading pond
“I spent and hour with you, should I want anything
else?”
She rose and winked like the owner of a candy store
We were sixteen, maybe less, maybe a little more
I walked home smiling, I finally had a story to tell
And though an autumn-time lullaby sang our
new-born love to sleep
My brother wrote me, he saw her there
In the woods one Christmas Eve, asleep
I met my wife at a party when I drank too
much
My son is married and tells me we don’t talk enough
It’s so predictable, yesterday my dream was of you
Beyond the ridge on the left, the sun had left the sky
Between the trees and pond you put your hand in mine
Said, “Time has bridled us both but I remember it,
too”
And though an autumn-time lullaby sang our
new-born love to sleep
I dreamt I traveled and found you there
In the woods one Christmas Eve, with me
Burn That Broken Bed
How do you bust the clouds
Press on your back been hanging in the air
I wanna scope you out
I wanna touch your mouth when you're up there
When are you coming back
Bird on a branch will come back home to sing
When are you coming back
Bringing it back and singing what you bring
How do you bust the clouds
Head on the ground and feeling what you've seen
I wanna scope you out
I wanna be your eyes and show you me
When are you coming back
When are you gonna burn that broken bed
When are you coming back
I wanna see you drifting overhead
Dead Man's Will
Give this stone to my brother
Cuz we found it playing in the barnyard
Many years ago
Give this bone to my father
He'll remember hunting in the hills
When I was 10 years old
May my love reach you all
I locked in myself and buried too long
Now that I come to fall
Please say it's not too late
Now that I'm dead and gone
Give this string to my mother
It pulled the baby teeth she keeps inside the drawer
Give this ring to my lover
I was scared and stupid not to ask
For her hand long before
May my love reach you all
I locked in myself and buried too long
Now that I come to fall
Please say it's not too late
Now that I'm dead and gone
