You knew what you took from everybody

1938 that picture with your mommy

Outside the Methodist church you went on Sunday

Standing with the Christ above your head you're out of body

Praying to whichever god is loving

Napping in the back of the blue Cadillac your dad fixed up for nothing

Did we do it all for nothing

In the small fort hideaway reading tea leaves at such a young age, weak limb on a tree that breaks

In the closed-course ancestry did you wonder if it's them or me? Who could know what you would receive

You knew what you got from everybody

You got grief for never acting like your mommy

Outside the Methodist church you went on Sunday

Standing with the Christ above your head he looked so funny

Praying to whichever god has money

Riding in the Chrysler with your daughters, close your eyes, you'll live past ninety

And longer in our dreams

Oh the toll taken on a woman in her home, wait till you're all alone

Oh the smoke filling up the crawlspace in your soul, where is the holy ghost

You knew what you took from everybody

You took every lump and made it look so stunning

Inside the Methodist church you prayed for nothing

Smiling at the Christ above your head you're off and running

And praying for another kind of loving

Find yourself at peace beyond the pine trees, the emptiness, the money

When you left us in the morning