Brother's Blood

(album: Brother's Blood - 2009)

My brother's blood boils in my arms
It balls my fingers into fists
It bubbles, blisters, burns my palms
It floods with fury, fights and fits
It's got the good guy in me hiding
It kicks my humble heart around
It's got me fiending for the fire
That could finish off this town

My brother's blood on a cherry tree
It stains the bark from branch to root
It puddles thick with pits and leaves
It strains the sweetness from the fruit
It kept me looking for communion
A meeting point off underground
An empty plot I could climb into
An lightening cartoon promise in my mouth

A blackout oath I swore and meant
But couldn't conjure up again
I don't know one thing about my brother's blood

My brother's blood
In my dirty lungs
In my crooked mouth
On my swollen tongue
On my father's gun
In each stranger's face
Across the bluebird sky
On each hand I shake
Night after night
Each chuckled prayer
Such sweet relief
Fists full of hair
My brother's back
My father's arms
Each twisted fact
In my sorry heart

All that dialogue
Doubling back at me
All that tangled talk
All that growling need
And each desperate drive
For elusive peace
And each endless night
And each wasted week

I spit and scream "what's done is done
Go make your peace with everyone"
They don't need to know about my brother's blood