Before And After

The dust settles after a hit and run

Bewildered by the damage done

I don’t know why we choose the roads we travel

Or how a life could get so unraveled.

We live our lives from then until now,

By the mercy received and the marks on our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life into before and after.

Once a trick of light made me believe,

A red fire was blazing from every tree.

We held hands as the evening gathered.

I forgave myself for what I didn’t ask her.

I once saw the sky filled with falling stars

Bumped my head in the dark and it left a scar

Held on too tight before I let it go,

Then forgave myself for what I didn’t know.

We live our lives from then until now,

By the mercy received and the marks on our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life into before and after.

I’ve stretched my soul over fifty states,

I have lived on fumes and religious cornflakes,

And once I dreamt my shoe had grown thin and battered,

And forgave myself for what didn’t matter.

God said Cain where is your brother,

And who will tell his grieving mother?

Jacob dreamt an angel called his name

And he never was the same

We live our lives from then until now,

By the mercy received and the marks on our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life into before and after.