Maria’s Lament

Jesus was drunk when he roughed up Maria
He kicked down the door, he was looking for a fight
The children fell asleep beside their mother
Maria whimpered all through the night

Jesus took the car & he took all the money
A six pack of Bud, and a change of clothes
He left Maria with the kids in the trailer
I heard he went back to Mexico

This was not the first time that he’d struck her
And I hate to say that it’s probably not the last
This time she swore she’s never gonna take him back again
She said that all too often in the past

Maria stayed in the trailer all morning
Maria stayed there all afternoon
There was a welt on her cheek that Maria was hiding
In the shape of a purple crescent moon

At work the next day nobody was talking
So I made up the words to Maria’s Lament
And at dinnertime that night nobody was hungry
Everybody just stayed inside their tents

This was not the first time that he’d struck her
And I hate to say that it’s probably not the last
This time she swore she’s never gonna take him back again
She said that all too often in the past

Maria’s mother lived down in Porterville
That’s an orange picking town
The apple season was just about over
And I myself was California bound

I’d bought an old Dodge van with my apple money
And I offered them a ride on down the coast
I loaned them all the bus fare back to Porterville
When in Sacramento I’d take a different road

We drove down the coast mostly in silence
Maria held the baby and she cried
There was little Isabella trying to comfort her
Me, I wanted to talk, but my tongue was tied

Came a letter with the money from Maria
And a photograph of Jesus & the kids
Maria, she was there, behind the camera
Makes me wonder about the bruises it must’ve hidden

This was not the first time that he’d struck her
And I hate to say that it’s probably not the last
This time she swore she’s never gonna take him back again
She said that all too often in the past