You Can't Go Home Again/Weary Wagon

Text:

© Grathy
You Can't Go Home Again/The Weary Wagon
Vocals and lyrics by Mary McGrath
Copyright 7/20/22-All rights reserved

My old home stares at me.

I see exhausted eaves,
And a barn door
That wheezes with the wind.

From the distance,
The windows glare,
Squinting in the unforgiving sun.

The barbed wire fence
Stands in the back and
Grimaces
With its jagged teeth.

From the distance,
It looks like it’s smiling at me,
But it is a jeer.

I’m trespassing on it's turf.

If I get too close,
It will cut, sting, and thrash,
Because now I am
An intruder,
Having tossed my overalls
In search of a better life.

As the worn shed sighs,
Weak from weathering
Too many storms,
I look at the tattered trail
With its broken squares of mud
That leads to where
I used to live.

I stare at my past
And wonder
If I should stay
Or simply walk away.


The Weary Wagon

You and your siblings,

Fractured over 

The demise of your mother,

Each of you, splintered spokes,

Blaming one another
For not pulling a fair share 

Of the wagon’s weight.

Look at the spent hub of the family,

Your mother,

As she feebly tries

To keep you all together.

But can’t you see
That she is spent,

The wood of her frame whittled,

Parched and dry,

Bleached from too many years in the sun,

Warped from wheeling through deep rivers,

Torrential streams that have drained her,

That have pulled her sideways for years.

As you all continue roll along,

Her weak carriage hobbles forward,

Still trying to meander down

These broken roads.

She is quiet

As she continues to circle

Around all of you

Over and over,

Her loud silence of suffering

As you all continue to squabble,

Squeaking at one another

With your weakened joints

As if nothing has happened.

Still pretending that the wheel is round

But you can’t see 

That the axle is also cracked,

Soon it will fly apart and

The entire carriage will

Tumble to the ground.

How well will you roll along

After your hub is gone?