The Orange Grove

(album: Sister Cities - 2018)

God, take me back to the orange grove
That I found deep in the desert
The air sweet as a miracle
It can't survive but it grows and grows and grows
West Texas is dying slow
An oil rig in the sunset
The air is heavy and filled with smoke
There ain't no quit in the hands that built this home
A dog barks in the distance
Rusted frames take root in the brush

You'll watch it decay
Lie through your teeth and say you'll resurrect a ghost
The paper tigers you made then swore to keep away
You're a knife there at my throat
God, take me back to the orange grove

Fall came quiet and sudden
They're smoking out of their storm doors
Work left town with the summer
We're just trying to keep warm
That cough don't sound any better
Another month, try to push through
Blood in your spit in the morning
Give a fake name at the emergency room
There at the edge of losing everything
Taking desperate swings in the dark

You'll watch it decay
Lie through your teeth and say you'll resurrect a ghost
The paper tigers you made then swore to keep away
You're a knife there at my throat

When your mom got sick so slow
Did you carry the weight alone?
When the bills started to grow
Did you carry the weight alone?
When the bank came for your home
Did you carry the weight alone?
When you reap what they sow
Do you carry the weight alone?

You'll watch it decay
Lie through your teeth and say you'll resurrect a ghost
The paper tigers you made then swore to keep away
You're a knife there at my throat
God, take me back to the orange grove