곡 정보

“Jake Saint lived his life like his namesake.”
His wife, Mae, eulogized with a laugh
After the wake, she pried open his suitcase
Found a knife and a stash of women’s photographs
Typists with their lipstick kissed off
Fingers and thumbs, like guns, pressed to their temples
Said to her daughter, Loretta,
“If there’s anything you’ll miss, grab it.”
Hit a storm going towards Marietta
High beams on the sleet made sheets of TV static
Like night signed off till the morning broadcast
Mae said, “You’re gonna stay a while in your uncle’s attic.”
The basket by the cot made her think
Of catching pink petals as they fell to the grass
Scanned the town from the small round window
Found the cherry blossom by the Laundromat
Through the naked limbs she saw the church steeple
Felt like God was peeking through the attic peephole
That night she heard a hiss
A low voice whispering
Felt the thrill she gets when the highway dips
Pinpricks of mist on her sunburned skin
Even with her jaw clenched
His words shaped her lips
Saying, “Lift you voice to me with the noise of sin.
Your mouth was made for worshiping.”
She joined the choir and
Sang staring at a martyr’s painting—
Flayed and swathed in the flag of his skin.
One day a boy drew her gaze to the stage
As he kissed a twisting snake, all mad and rattling
Saying, “Sing His praise, for I ain’t crazed by no fever.
You see, they got no taste for a true believer.”
That Fall, she spent her nights with the boy
At the drive-in or lost in the fog of the woods
When she told him she could hear God’s voice,
He said, “Loretta you know better. This ain’t Hollywood.
The silver screen’s been leaking into your thinkin.”
And she kissed him hard to keep the voice from screaming
She said, “I told my secret. You’re next.”
His smile screwed up tight like a wince
“Truth is I keep my rattlers toothless.
They have a hard time biting with their fangs missing.
Now listen, I’m still one of God’s children,
But with pops locked up it’s tough to make a living.”
One night, through snow covered lashes
He looked at her with a sudden sadness
And said, “Let’s enjoy this season.
Come spring, I’m leaving. Alone.”
She cried when she saw a flock of birds returning home
They kissed goodbye and he climbed in his truck
She plucked pink petals from his hair as the engine started up
He said, “I’ll find you in the next life.”
Soon, Her lips pulled back to whisper,
“Child, there’s a lesson in this.
Forget the boy, prove your love to me.”
She disappeared in the evergreens
Next day, Mae searched the woods with her bother
And past the creek, under canopy cover
Where a boulder loomed with its ancient wound
Loretta lay in Azalea blooms
The sun cut through the shade
And brought a glow to her face, igniting
The violet shine of her open eyes
Her neck, a mess of snakebites and flies
The morning gazette read
“Cleopatra of Marietta:
The tragic death of choirgirl, Loretta.
Her voice will live on in us forever.”