Oleanders

Oleanders grew here by your gate, I well remember

They looked so good first day I rode along

The oleanders blew here in the warm winds of September

I remember being with you here, making plans all summer long

We were dancing in the big house when someone stopped the music

Told us all the fighting had begun

I well remember leaving and you not understanding

That a man from Massachusetts couldn't wear a southern gun

Oh, Miranda, we had our reasons then

Like the seasons then, they changed and so did you

I know, Miranda, the world went mad around us

We only did the things we thought we had to do

Oleanders grew there on a hill in Pennsylvania

I saw them as I lied there on the stone

And while those southern cannons blasted everything around me

My mind was back here with you in your Mississippi home

And I could almost hear you laughing, feel you walking close beside me

See you riding down the roads we used to ride

And it was hard to fight a war I wasn't sure that I believed in

It was harder when I knew that you were on the other side

Oh, Miranda, we had our reasons then

Like the seasons then, they changed and so did I

I know, Miranda, the war is still between us

But we could make it if we gave it one more try

Oleanders blossom in the cool days of November

I remember how they'd scatter on the ground

And I can almost hear you crying as

You came running from the big house

I can almost hear the thunder of the fires that brought it down

Oh, Miranda, we all had reasons then

But like the seasons then, they changed and now they're gone

So, Miranda, the time has come to live

The world will still be going on long after we are gone