on a southern horse

i heard Merl sing
after lunch time
on the prison floor
for a red hot dime

he sang real hard
meant everything he wrote
about a hanging judge

and a midnight rope

and a dark man
on a southern horse
underneath the tree
being held by force

long time ago
white as a sheet
in a rural land
with an ominous heat

 

remembering love
smiling at pain
trying to be brave
swinging in the rain

i heard Merl sing
outside his cell
just like Johnny Cash
deep in a wishing well

he sang real hard
meant what he said
that a Jim Crow's life
was how he was bred

long time ago
white as a sheet
in a rural land
with an ominous heat

 

and a dark man

on a southern horse

underneath the tree

being held by force