Miles from St. Francis, meters from home
Wandered through the wreckage I left three years ago
Full as the woods, empty as my abode
But if I come back, it’ll be Sever Road
The trees in reception always line the street
The towers on the corner of Tab Roberts still meet
The skies where Leonid showed Mom and me
The chaos of the city is no match for a King
Swayed by the hammock, broke at 16
Broke at 29, middle-night in a dream
Backyard, caught the room my parents should be
Ghosts are getting louder but they’re whispering peace
Said the prayer at 5 and 13
And also 29, and every time in between
Resurrection haunts louder than grief
Serpent lord was bold but he was bruised underneath
Cities in the forest, cities of the plain
Your taste of heaven given and my hell you restrained
Music for the mending to messes I made
“A Whisper & a Clamor” and a whimper of faith
Throat full of sorrow, mouth full of shame
Wash it out with soap, it’s an arrogant grave
Of prototype perfections
Where in Your embrace
I've waited for the end
But the end never came
Then my fears come to rest
At the tomb of my risen Lord
Wept just like my mother
Makes me weep a little more
What did I think would happen?
What did I think all this was for?
The forest long, the canyon deep
The sum of everything that runs to my core
Then 80 north of Flagstaff
Stumble back into Your call
Storm bound for my sitting place
You swallowed me, bones and all
Strangest sense of safety in the center of the squall
And the rain falls sideways
As if it’s forgotten how to fall
At all...
Forgotten how to fall...

We’ve all been displaced
The anachronistic violence
Past all but defines us
Ohh-ahh-ohh-ohh
Number every grace
But despair and grief defy it
Dead set on a riot
Ohh-ahh-ohh-ohh
But what good have we lost
That hasn’t first been given?
Won’t one day be risen?
Ohh-ahh-ohh-ohh
Jesus, bring us back
To the place we can’t deny it
Resurrect, reprise it
Ohh-ahh-ohh-ohh
I looked at my shire
One more time before I went home
“Home enough for now,” I said
And then prepared to face the desert alone
One ring around my neck
And one on a finger bone
Felt double marked, like light and dark
But the latter already atoned
Then finally back in LA County
Streams began to flow
Hills remembered green again
And lilies dared to grow
And as the rain fell from the sky
I danced out in that weather
Then cried
And he asked why
I said,
“It’s something getting better”