The boys come picking
trees for the soul
the reddest cherries
from the tallest branches
waving strong

The boys come bringing
water for wine
in the lilac winter sky
the air rinsing
hands cleansing
praising God

The boys come take
our wives and daughters
to pave the path
to endless wars
I feel plucked and peeled
when the oven rises
when they hug me close
like you did before
curious data and
digital bits
and then you just took me
a little more

The boys come picking
trees for the soul
the reddest cherries
from the tallest branches
waving strong

The girls run screaming
as I weep in Fall
cry to the ovens that won’t
remember them all
I’m counting their footprints
breathing the field
Can you smell death?
Their stories die?
A shadow of soon
when they serve cherry pie

The boys come picking
trees for the soul
the reddest cherries
from the tallest branches
waving strong

plucked and peeled
you serve us sore
while you hug us close
a little more
curious data and digital bits
spat and shat on
or even burnt a witch
you just take me
a little more

The boys come stealing
our wives and daughters
to pave the path
to endless wars
sending us forwards
then back to the stars
where our stories end
in books and movies
fall for legends
to finally turn
into digital bits
because
who would believe
a Goddamn witch?

The boy took
to teach me
about mothers and daughters
sons and fathers
and the edge between us all
My heart was felted
brain pelted
when the girls came
to free the figments of my pain
I was washed out
and then the trees burnt
with the sound of regret
crashed down
I had
fallen finally
through and more than before
had been fleeting even
for the first time
since he made me sore

I guess you just took me
a little more