High Field
I came out west to California for the good rich earth they told of
My hands were gentle with the animals but flashy when I deal
I got a job with Richardson and saved what I could hold
My proudest day when I knelt down in my own field
Weather stopped the railroad and sickness dropped the cattle
The boss sold out when he lost his last steer
A rancher could grow poor with every golden shot of mercy
The barman poured on credit all through those bad luck years
I'll still be working this high field though it is no longer mine
When the sun hits the ocean that last time
Whiskey turned to soil, the only gold the barman needed
A rancher with a weakness was his living and his greed
A glass will numb the pain of whatever fortune haunts you
An inch of land in trade for all the medicine you need
I'll still be working this high field though it is no longer mine
When the sun hits the ocean that last time
I signed the paper and I will work until I am ashes again
Inch by inch I lost the wager for my little piece of land
It wasn't drink for me, it was the rosy cheeks of Annie
And those flashing cards that let my fortune slip out of my hands
I'll still be working this high field though it is no longer mine
When the sun hits the ocean that last time
Ten Mile Creek
There was fire in the hills
Up above Ten Mile Creek
We played every song we knew
Sheltered by a black oak tree
Your bowing arm still strong
But no night could hide your face
And then the sun came up to steal
One more number from your days
Let’s go down to the water
While there’s water in this valley to flow
We’ll wait together by the shore
Before the maker calls you home
We made nothing of the road
From the desert to the sea
I made a map of all your colors
You kept my colors safe for me
We paved the years with postage stamps
Broken loves and sweet tomorrows
Until you said beside the creek
You were going where I couldn’t follow
We laid you down to rest
It laid a hush on all my days
In the valley of the shadow here below
Where your fiddle used to play
Snow Days
County station tells her in the dark
No school today, the mercury’s still dropping
Mama calls from town: you be brave, little bird
Stay home and take care of papa
Snow days she makes angels in the garden
She can forget till he calls her back inside
Let’s play hide and seek while we’re alone, little bird
She’s never fast enough to hide
In the summer she can run beside the river
The river runs away from these dark hills
She can hear the highway running north to the border
Eight years till she can drive and then this place can’t hold her
She knows how to keep a secret
Smother it underneath the snow
Papa says no one would understand, little bird
Your mama never has to know
She turns into a crow
High above the river, a shadow on the snow
She flies as far as she can go
Coffee
I bought milk but there’s no one here to drink it
Your coffee’s cold when I get back from town
There’s no one here to fix that leaky faucet
No one who knew me when my hair was brown
All my friends had a kind word of mercy
They went back to their lives when it was said
I wake up morning after morning
Still reaching for your side of the bed
Can’t we just have one more cup of coffee
Can you tell me how to do this on my own
All these years you never broke a promise
Except the one about us growing old
The pear tree out there is already blooming
I should have pruned it a month or two ago
I should have listened more when you were talking
About all those tender things you loved to grow
I should have loved you with all my fierceness
But half my heart was fighting with the past
That tired kiss while I was washing dishes
I didn’t know that it would be the last
Praise
You came around in June talking about the night you had
I laughed right along with all the rest
I’d hide out in the bathroom like I did in seventh grade
But that’s no way to treat a Sunday guest
I can’t stay standing in this whiskey-drinking crowd
Just a cup of coffee’s all I need
You were only killing time when you told me you were mine
Now summer can’t end soon enough for me
I’d still drive across the county
Just to listen to you play
Cause I can’t stand the hush on Sundays
Where these walls used to ring with songs of praise
So I will give all my silence to this empty little screen
I will give this yellow room an empty seat
I will tell myself I’m fine while the sun is high
But I still need your hymns to fall asleep
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be
I don’t hang up the ornament you gave me for the tree
But somehow I just can’t throw it away
There might come a Sunday when a few more winters pass
I can finally bless our summer days
Watch for Day
Blue and green, the colors are all quiet
A stack of paper napkins even though we’re both too cool to cry
Branches hold the secret and they tell it to the sky
And I wish the arms of this old tree were mine
In the stillness of the hours
In the wreckage from the storm
When the landmarks have all changed
All we can do is leave a light on
And watch for day
You check all the windows and the doors
Then one day you wake up and there’s glass all over the floor
Whisper in the ceiling grows back into a roar
It says nobody knows you anymore
Saw the wild bird waiting on the stairs
To take our hands and bring us back into the air
On every corner do you see his coat
Does he vanish like the message on the blank paper of the note
For all the days before us we will listen in the smoke
For the one who never will grow old