One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)

This is how I tell it

Oh, but it's long

One Sunday morning

Oh, one son is gone

I can see where they're dawning

Over the sea

My father said what I had become

No-one should be

Outside I look lived in

Like the bones in a shrine

How am I forgiven?

Oh, I'll give it time

This, I learned without warning

Holding my brow

In time he thought I would kill him

Oh, but I didn't know how

I said it's your god I don't believe in

No, your Bible can't be true

Knocked down by the long life

He cried, 'I fear what waits for you'

I can hear those bells

Spoken and gone

I feel relief, I feel well

Now he knows he was wrong

I am cold for my father

Frozen underground

Jesus, I wouldn't bother

He belongs to me now

Something sad keeps moving

So I wandered around

I fell in love with the burden

Holding me down

Bless my mind, I miss

Being told how to live

What I learned without knowing

How much more that I owe that I can give

This is how I tell it

Oh, but it's long

One Sunday morning

One son is gone