Louise just turned seventy six I guess Bertha Lee is seventy three Evelyn died last winter No one ever got in touch with me Little Melvin’s working the docks Aunt Tillie’s still shelling peas Dalinda got pregnant again It’s a girl that makes three There’s no easy way to find The fastest highway home No maps inside your heart To tell you where you belong Carol got colon cancer She died back in ninety eight I begged her to go all the way in high school But she said she wasn’t raised that way So all I got was a promise And a kiss with a secret smile You can go all the way with anyone tonight If they choose not to tell you why Every stop sign on the road Leads to battles never won A lifetime of regrets and reasons For not getting anything done In the silence Where the secrets hide In the corners As the conversation died Are the memories We keep to ourselves When the damage of whispers Is all that is left Little Bobby and Vonda got drunk At the bar over near the Schlater Bridge I drove them both back home And I asked Vonda out on the edge She said yes and then I knew Nothing ever expected in this life Would ever be pure enough To push away from all we have to try Confession awaits each hard day After nights are soft and sweet Before the hugs and the handshakes Total up your life’s receipt
