The Seeds In Daddy’s Earth

Every spring the truck arrived Full of rich foul smelling dirt The beginning of the planting The seeds in daddy’s earth I hauled the foul fertilizer To fill in the plowed up rows Summer soon would bring a bounty From the crops that he would grow Tender hands for daddy’s garden Harsh hands for daddy’s son That’s how the earth gets moved That’s how the planting gets done The backyard was cracked and rocky Until daddy spread new soil The loam and manure he mixed Became creation then sacred toil The hoses and the rain Kept the sown ground from drying I staked the weaker stalks Weeded out the dead and dying Precious water for daddy’s garden Barren deserts for daddy’s son That’s how the crop gets nurtured That’s how the garden is begun When daddy drank whiskey He got mean and hit hard He swore he never would let All the big shots take charge But they took charge and led him Down a road he could not walk So he kept on drinking whiskey And hitting while he talked Talked of all that failed him Including mama and me Talked of all he never was And all he would never be Daddy could never say any words Unless they came out bitter and rough But he could tend that garden The only thing he ever really loved One day my son saw pictures of me Throwing up in a half filled row What was it like in that garden he asked Son, be glad you never have to know Tender feasts from daddy’s garden Unbroken hunger for daddy’s son That’s how the crop gets gathered That’s how the harvest gets done