Lee

I remember the hail of red clay rocks
Lee, your lean chucking arm
The boys, the hill

And the wild flights home from war
Silent stairs we crept before your mom at the tv had a clue
She never talked to me or to you

But when we would have a game
Up there, she would shout your name
And the record we'd hush, she'd go away
We'd dim the light in your room and we would play

You were more like a girl every time
We'd fall asleep to the tune
As the walls spun round

Light flashed, light stopped
With you, Lee, under bed sheets
A tent we had made there

Were things as I remember
Hard things for you
As a man, you left angry

Oh Lee, how a child can whine
I'm done telling lies to mine
There's no deal in it all, he needs to hear

All the things we're pining for
All that's carried far from shore
Leave one bitter about what remains
I'm not telling him now, just the same

You were a dream
When you painted your eyes
Mighty you were
Like a sail on a heaving sky