Mary from Feeling & Devotion by Jack M. Senff

West, the yonder mountain
How we left it
Pool of running water
Still, collected
Couldn’t swim there anymore

Brother, I think Mary’s off her mind again
Telling those tall tales to the wind
Says she sweat the devil
Never meant to slip
She just got her three-month chip
How do you find a grip?

On all these long-down,
Hard-town truths
The river winds a painting
Drawn in blues
No one means for sorrow
By the light
I wish that we could leave this song behind

What to do?
What to do?

The kids will whisper now
That we abandoned them
Trace the pattern back—
It’s all abandonment
Bottom of the stairs
No boogie man
Just a coward, man
You go west young man

‘Cuz Mary rides an Amtrak
That might never reach the station
But she taught us of goodness
To know love as revelation
Mercy be the wings of a gospel!
Can we pray for her salvation?
Brother, oh
It’s so much to hold

All of these long-down
Hard-town truths
The river winds a painting
Drawn in blues
No one means for sorrow
By the light
I wish we could leave this song behind

What to do?
What to do?

• Folk
• americana
• folk-rock
• singer-songwriter
• Traverse City