40 acres from your mother’s side in utah

candle makers from a vintage catalog

can you remember what her daddy said

can you recall the yellow quilted bed

i do, i do

 

she came from england with her purple tinted bottles

she wrote in cursive in a never-finished novel

she saw your daddy in that uniform

the angel gabriel in human form

to the desert now, desert now

 

her first child emmy was a daughter fit for achin’

she cursed the rainfall and laid hands on the ground shakin’

i do not know this soul, her blood’s not mine

our father will bless us the second time

he will, he will

 

so mark had come into the world halfway through april

the prayers were whispered that he’d be like his father gabriel

but he came out with black and sunken eyes

he had no heart inside his chest that night

it’s god’s will, it’s god’s will

 

you were the third try and by then they gave up prayin’

it was their debt that all ones before were payin’

but you were different you would speak in tongues

a cactus flower blessed with holy lungs

finally, finally

be at peace, be at peace

finally, be at peace