I was young
So much younger
Younger back then
A four minute sermon
In that church in the valley
Struggling to keep the words from running away
Like my soul
So often will
——
See that young man
In my mind
I am still him
Selling things on the highway,
as a child,
See
The couple, they are fighting…
And she hands me a notepad
Asking for me to write words
That I can not find …
Love is a garden, and you can’t harvest what you won’t grow…
—-
See the man
Trying to drown
All the pain in his eyes
My son
My daughter
My children
——
We were young
In that country
the storm’s rolling over
Putting words in these hands
The notebooks
And a broke piano
To keep them hemmed
—-
Now the world keeps on changing
Emotions,they are re-arranging
And the high doesn’t last
She’s intrigued
And curious
She’s never met an artist
With a southern sound
the ability
To outlast her California high
But I’m afraid
That I can’t stay
For my mountains they call me back
It’s in the highways
And the valleys
It’s a grit from my families old stills
And I’m afraid
She doesn’t understand
Some things
You can’t grow out here…
my sons
My sons
Don’t give yourself away
Keep your grit
Keep your faith
Keep your eyes
On these mountains
Even while you are away
Let me see
Let me stand
Let me find
My heart in my homeland
The old moonshine country
Where we live what we feel
Where we outlast
What would kill
Oh my son
My daughter
My foolish youth
I wish I could shield you
From
How a heart
Caves in like the coal mines
Standing in your empty house
Where your dreams
Your ideals
Your heart beat
And your breath
Held its last
And you swore you would not become a tombstone
As you pack all the boxes
With fractured breath
It’s just memories
Of a love that slowly died
Go to stand
In the silence
Of your cemetery
And
All that feels empty
An ideal
This house once was a home
Like the distilleries from the past ….
Oh my son
Keep your eyes
Fixed
Where a heart
Cannot drown
God bless the hands that built
All of those mines
Those stills
the homes
And these mountains
From the sand
Keep your grit
Keep your faith
Keep your eyes
Set
On all
That still stands
Now
Go
Go
When life tears you down
rebuild
See that you stand
Like these mountains
With skies in your eyes
Go
Go
And
Rebuild
With a future and a life
And carry this grit with you
It will burn warm in the night
-E
Regardingsamuel.com
