(a poem written and performed by Bill Alexander)

Miller High Life and chocolate 

Sitting out under the moon 

These are the little things you’re supposed to treat yourself to 

Consignment shop handbag 

My reward for mowing 

I’m back at home waiting, it could not be said I was hoping 

Lucky for me- I ain’t got champagne taste 

Lucky for you- you can just drive away 

Lukewarm ambition 

Anxiety meds 

And a stack of self-help books have all gone to my head 

Seem to think I can fix things 

Tie them up tight 

That must be why my pockets are all full of bailing twine 

Lucky for me- I still got hay to rake 

Lucky for you- you can just drive away 

Miller High Life and chocolate  

Small pleasures to pass 

All the troubles I’ve had in my present and past 

Here’s to the future 

Whatever you choose 

Where nothing been decided yet, so there’s nothing to lose 

Lucky for me- you got the kids today 

What could you do if I just drove away?

I can’t cast any spells 

If I could don’t you think 

I’d be filling up my own damn well 

I can’t make cut flowers live 

On and on 

I can’t make them bloom once they’re outta sun 

Shrike has too much makeup on 

Leaves her prey on the barbed wire fence There is no secret to her song 

I know, it’s just a bunch of non-sense 

I can’t craft you no tincture 

Or tonic  

That’ll make you well if you wanna be sick 

You can graft on fresh branches 

Weave a whole new story 

But, baby, you cannot put the fruit back on the tree 

Shrike has too much makeup on 

Leaves her prey on the barbed wire fence There is no secret to her song 

I know, it’s just a bunch of non-sense 

If I had any power 

I wouldn’t be no songbird 

I’d be a hawk or a heron or an owl or an eagle 

But I’ll come and bear witness 

To you in your grief 

And if that ain’t grace than it don’t exist 

Jumpstart the truck or catch a bus, ride your thumb, anyway

I need you to leave before I ask you to stay 

And when the morning rolls around you best be rollin’ down

In a red cloud of dust my driveway 

Don’t go tell it on the mountain 

Nobody here would believe you anyway 

You can tell every hill, you can everywhere else  

I keep this mountain to myself 

Down in town I don’t even stop to shoot the shit at the coffee shop

I swear I hear them whispering your name 

And at the post to drop a letter, then of it

I thought better Sent as a vapor up my chimney 

Don’t go tell it on the mountain 

Nobody here would believe you anyway 

You can tell every hill, you can everywhere else  

I keep this mountain to myself 

I’ve got fields to fallow; I’ve got braids to swing 

I’ve got clouds to lasso; I’m not afraid of anything 

I’m not afraid of anything 

Before the snow begins to fly turning the hill from red to white

I need to know that you’re well on your way 

And if the truck refuse to start, I’ll help you push it in the barn

And we can try again some other day 

Don’t go tell it on the mountain 

Nobody here would believe you anyway 

You can tell every hill, you can everywhere else  

I keep this mountain to myself 

Jumpstart the truck or catch a bus, ride your thumb, anyway

I need you to leave before I ask you to stay

Your mother’s name is Mary 

My name is Mary, too 

I hear them call me Little Mary 

When they’re talking about you 

I pick her up 11:50 

For the Rosary at noon 

At Our Lady of Mount Carmel 

We’ll get her working on this, too 

Oh, you can run all around this world 

But I ain’t gonna chase you none; I ain’t gonna drag you home

There’s nothing out there for you I’m pretty sure 

But what do I know I’m just an anthracite girl 

Anthracite girl 

We took some wedding pictures  

Right there on those front steps 

The statues were all new then 

They ain’t even weathered yet 

It didn’t take you too long 

To turn right on your heel 

Head to god-knows-what in Philly 

While I cook your father’s meals 

Oh, you can run all around this world 

But I ain’t gonna chase you none; I ain’t gonna drag you home

There’s nothing out there for you I’m pretty sure 

But what do I know I’m just an anthracite girl 

Anthracite girl 

They don’t burn it no more but it’s scattered in the grass

You can tell it from bituminous ‘cause it shines like shattered glass

Harder than shale, harder than slate 

It’ll keep your family warm even when you run away 

Maybe we’re both happier  

Than everybody thinks 

We don’t talk about why you left 

Or why you’re back to stay 

We hold hands on Sunday 

On top of the pew 

And I’m pretty sure I mean it  

When I say ‘Peace be with you’ 

Oh, you can run all around this world 

But I ain’t gonna chase you none; I ain’t gonna drag you home

There’s nothing out there for you I’m pretty sure 

But what do I know I’m just an anthracite girl 

Anthracite girl 

Now my truck is fixed and your Carhartts are mended

We made plenty of jokes; we made plenty of messes

Let’s go out and pick a late summer bouquet 

New England Aster, Goldenrod, and Queen Anne’s Lace 

You eat like a timber wolf and you sleep like a black bear

Mark-up this town like a dog, you don’t miss me when I’m not there

But it don’t bother me none, ‘cause I am also on the run

I’m a shapeshifter, too, and when I’m gone I don’t miss you  

But now my truck is fixed and your Carhartts are mended

We made plenty of jokes; we made plenty of messes

Let’s go out and pick a late summer bouquet 

New England Aster, Goldenrod, and Queen Anne’s Lace 

We’ve nothing left to lose and nothing left to gain 

Let’s call it what it is, we ain’t got nothing left to trade

The maples in the bog are the first to turn to red 

I ain’t cutting no firewood, think I’m gonna split instead 

‘Cause now my truck is fixed and your Carhartts are mended

We don’t have to read the stars, to know that things are ending

Let’s go out and pick one last late summer bouquet

New England Aster, Goldenrod, and Queen Anne’s Lace New England Aster, Goldenrod, and Queen Anne’s Lace

I am a woman who lives and sleeps alone 

In my nightstand there’s a handgun and on top a Virgin Mary and a wishbone Wishbone 

The deputy he told me you ain’t no creep 

But I can see it clear across the parking lot; I can hear it in the way the phone rings What does he know about it anyway? 

He ain’t aware there’s a creep in his mirror everyday 

I am a woman who lives and sleeps alone 

In my nightstand there’s a handgun and on top a Virgin Mary and a wishbone Wishbone 

Tires for sale at the end of my driveway 

Are not an invitation for you to show up at my place 

I ain’t hysterical 

I’m also not dumb and I know those wouldn’t fit your truck   

I am a woman who lives and sleeps alone 

In my nightstand there’s a handgun and on top a Virgin Mary and a wishbone Wishbone 

I refuse to feel scared in my own house 

I refuse to lock myself in just to keep you out 

The neighbor dog roughed up my hen 

Broke her wishbone into two  

I found out in stew that she’d mended those two pieces in her chest Runned off the dog, bird in the pot, I got the last laugh my friend 

I am a woman who lives and sleeps alone 

In my nightstand there’s a handgun and on top a Virgin Mary and a wishbone Wishbone

I believe in rural people 

I believe in community 

I believe the stars shine brightest when it’s coldest And the leaves are off the trees 

I believe in expressing gratitude 

I believe in expressing grief 

I believe in celebration 

Gathered around wood heat 

I believe in photosynthesis 

I believe there’s magic in a seed 

I believe in both not either 

In what we can prove and what we cannot see 

I believe we ain’t so different 

I believe we’re each unique 

I believe god ain’t out to get us 

I believe in Unity