I got the news on the satellite phone
Jason, come home, Jason, dear,
I heard it on the forest floor.
Six years of back country trails to the lake,
Machete and snake, machete I learned
To cradle in the Old State Park.
Roosevelt, 33, he had a plan
For every young man
Give him an ax and a seed
Give him a pack and a tree
Teach him to care for himself
Give him fresh air for his health
Send money back to family.
Back to Baltimore,
The tallboy convenience store,
The indifferent, the endless war.
And I know what that is,
And I know what that is,
And I dont need it anymore,
But I have to go home.
Luke was the son of some well-to-do folk
My family was broke, but we became friends,
The parking lot, the chewed up field.
I started in the park just as he was going in,
A hard eight to ten for selling to kids
My momma worked the county jail.
Roosevelts Tree Army, under the sun,
The work would be done while America
Bled by the greed of the rich,
The boys planted trees and found God in the pitch,
They stared at the sod in each fist
Why am I telling you this?
Is it that Im nervous to be going back?
Back to Baltimore,
The tallboy convenience store,
The indifferent, the endless war.
And I know what that is,
And I know what that is,
And I dont need it anymore,
But I have to go home.
Luke, I guess, got himself into a fight,
Took him to the infirmary later that night,
Nothing serious, sure, but next morning he died,
Then the satellite phone with the crew,
Which meant I didnt cry.
Im taking the train to take time for my thoughts,
Pregnant with loss, preparing for all
The things that maybe make you feel.
Ill pay my respects and then Ill take a walk,
The neighborhood block,
And then I will leave.