We slipped off the blacktop Where the palmettos grow Two shadows headed south Where the cold waters flow Got a tip on a grow Tucked deep in the green Miles from a road and Far from anything seen Knee deep water Mud pulling at our boots Cypress knees and briars Tangled mangrove roots No birds were singing Just the skeeters in our ears Hunting down trouble In the Florida frontier We found a little island Just a patch of dry sand Dropped our packs and caught Our breath where the saw grass stands My partner leaned back Tired from the trail Never saw the cottonmouth Lying dark and pale Coiled by his boot with Its head pulled tight One bad move away From a venomous bite I let him stand easy Then I took his arm Walked him off that island And away from harm Through the water and the thunder Through the mud and the rain We walked where the lost souls Leave their poison and pain I kept my brother breathing When the danger drew near But when heaven split open He disappeared He said I love ya brother But I’ve got to survive Someone has to tell the story If you don’t make it alive And he ran through that storm While the lightning burned white Left me in the Florida woods On that wild holy night We pressed on deeper Where the sun couldn’t land Found the hidden rows Beneath a camouflage stand Plastic pots and fertilizer Wire strung low An outlaw garden where No lawful thing grows We marked the site called it in Did what we came to do Turned back toward the darkness Where the storm clouds grew Then the wind hit hard And the treetops bowed And the sky started preaching With a voice too loud Lightning cracked close enough To shake the ground I said Lord keep us covered Every time it came down My partner kept looking Like he didn’t understand Why I’d talk to my Maker With my life in His hands Then a bolt hit so near That the swamp lit gold I threw up a prayer from Somewhere deep in my soul Lord keep me safe Don’t let this be my day And my partner stopped dead In the rain and the gray He turned around slowly With a question in his eyes Like the storm had Finally made him realize I said You don’t know I’ve been struck before He stared like he’d seen A ghost standing in the storm Then he looked me dead on Rain running down his face Said I love ya brother But I know my place Someone has to live To tell the tale tonight Then he took off running Through the flashing white Through the water and the thunder Through the mud and the rain We walked where the lost souls Leave their poison and pain I kept my brother breathing When the danger drew near But when heaven split open He disappeared He said I love ya brother But I’ve got to survive Someone has to tell the story If you don’t make it alive And he ran through that storm While the lightning burned white Left me in the Florida woods On that wild, holy night So if you hear a story 'Bout a man in the swamp Praying through the thunder While the whole world jumps Tell ‘em there was a snake And a grow and a friend And a storm that showed Me where brotherhood ends I saved his life by The cottonmouth’s side Then he left me alone when The heavens opened wide But I walked out laughing 'Cause the Lord saw it through And somewhere he’s still running Like the lightning told him to
