| Bind Up My Life Villains Lovers and Fools Page 14 |
| KEEPSAKES Down the long corridor Down to that little room By itself all alone~ There in the corner, That chest of drawers That you call your soul, What will I find there Amid the linens Dirty and clean? Old souvenirs from a trip To paradise? Or maybe that map of hell You�re forever going to~ Trinkets and treasures Heartaches and pleasures, Layer upon layer of life, Forgotten destinies And rotted dreams~ Are they really the keepsakes You thought they were? Listen the rhythms of your beating heart Chant ancient rhymes, upset the cart, Throw all your caution to the raging wind Paint the walls and begin again, Open the door and breathe a fresh air And the stuff in that chest of draws Over there�. Toss it all out and start anew And make it all cozy for the life of you. |
| RISE ME UP I saw the levee Where that river flows Saw catfish farms Where the Kingfish go And the cotton fields And a rice field too But you know what I couldn�t see you I looked for you In Effingham And considered going To Birmingham Wandered down To St. John�s Biyou Crossed the bridge But I couldn�t find you I�m lying on the bottom Of the Muddy Mississippi Please rise me up Please come and heal me Fill this hole In the bottom of my soul So you don�t slip through I need you so Closed my eyes I thought real hard Pulled out my book I read the Bard Prayed to Jesus And Heathens too Fell on my knees But I couldn�t feel you I�m lying on the bottom Of the Muddy Mississippi Please rise me up Please come and heal me Fill this hole In the bottom of my soul So you don�t slip through I need you with me.. And now it�s late And the sun�s sinking low Blood red orange And a cup of joe Evening breezes Trees in song My soul rises up And then I�m gone�� I was lying on the bottom Of the Muddy Mississippi You raised me up And you came and healed me Fixed this hole In the bottom of my soul So you don�t slip through Cause I love you so�.. |
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| THE MOTHER IS DYING The mother is dying Eighty years of struggle Eighty years fighting Jealousy, pride, stubbornness sublime Mama Lion protecting her babes Alone Proud mama with heart of gold The mother is dying She wants five more years Good years � just that With a surgery to heal And two more months of chemo And 5 week of radiation I think she�ll be lucky to have one But then what do I know Nothing Except the mother is dying Knowledge of the womb Left at the separation Of placenta and child Left down in that little hole Where my umbilical cord once was Knowledge fled from All these years Nightmare fears Masked in other guises The mother is dying |