[Opening - soft] I called you Samson. You turned toward the sound. [Verse 1] You stood beyond the kitchen light, Too tall beneath the bough; You looked at bread upon my palm As if to ask me how. They gave me tales of cloven feet And hunger without end. You watched the flour leave my hands; I watched your fingers bend. [Chorus] I called you Samson, And you answered to the name. For a moment in the clearing, Neither one of us was shame. I called you Samson— Could a name become a way? [Verse 2] You listen when I read aloud, Then question every line: Why must all the living world Be sorted, yours or mine? You can coax a shoot from dust And tremble at a bee; Then something passes through your eyes That will not look at me. [Chorus] I called you Samson, And you answered to the name. For a moment in the clearing, Neither one of us was shame. I called you Samson— Could a name become a way? [Bridge - sparse and uneasy] I know the wood has taken things It never will return. I know a hand can shelter life And still have much to learn. Do not ask me for a pardon I have no right to give. Sit beside me in the doorway. Let us learn a way to live. [Final Chorus - open and soaring] I called you Samson, And you answered to the name. For a moment in the clearing, Neither one of us was shame. I called you Samson— Will you answer me again? [Outro] Something moved behind your eyes. I left the candle burning.
