Window Pane

I wrap this memory in barbed wire
so I won't pick it up again
it stings my hand
I close my eyes I see her stride
oh Lady Liberty, oh red clay land
and I cry for the child that I've been
Oh my sister are you dreaming of the city square?
the sun drenched stone?
When it's quiet I can hear the songs from the radio
they bring me home
and they sing to me in words
I used to know
Light was streaming through our eyelids
onto the movie screen
we laughed and cried
gulls were screaming making their way out to an angry sea
under speckled sky
such a lonely feeling
when they fly
there's a house on the mountain
with a long and winding stair
there's a room atop the tower
the king and all his horsemen won't find us there
Oh sister, sad and quiet on the morning train
no hope to send
oh my brother, heart like iron
I'm coming home again
I'm coming home again
I'll be wild as the southern July sky
Do you know I used to pray that we'd be made well again
all the time
I fought their guns with all my faith in the better man
I lost my mind
when I saw that we were all on the losing side
and how I scoured every letter
how I savored every word
when the truth was right before me
a windowpane, a reckless bird