Fathers of Daughters

The sky today cracked open
An egg from your mother's womb
Tucked it under our shirts
And learned the meaning of shame
My wife, my wife is dead
I have killed her
In a gust of the wind
Nothing left to be done
Nothing left to be done
I could not go home
So I dropped out of sight

Oh, I saw you
In your garments on the street
In your garments in this room
I followed you

These passionate attachments
These late nights spent in each other’s rooms
These close brushes
These near kisses
These fidelities
These difficulties
These sublimations
These sublimations
Unfinished business
These sublimations
These sublimations

Oh, I saw you
In your garments on the street
In your garments in my room
I want to swallow you

No secret, but I know it can be kept
Deep in Kansas, I have buried my daughters
Raised my sons in the eye of the storm
Kept my children as children so long

Like a host
(God's will is not love but a hammer)
Whole
(So, so long, god's will is not love but a hammer)
Like a host
(So, so long, god’s will is not love but a hammer)
Whole
(So, so long, god's will is not love but a hammer)

Something denied... I say
Something despised... I picked it up
Something disowned... I claim
Something disallowed... I took it up
Something denied... in this room tonight
Something disjointed... was made whole
Somebody lied... in this room tonight
And what they denied... I took home