Gravel Road Mercy

“Gravel Road Mercy”

(Single low guitar. Open space.)

She used to ride shotgun

In that old Chevrolet

Sun fallin’ sideways

At the end of the day

Hair caught gold

In the rearview frame

Said, “Daddy, one day

They’ll all know my name.”

(long pause)

He came ’round summer

With a borrowed grin

Clean boots, smooth talk

And a jaw set thin

Said he’d take care of her

Swore he’d treat her right

I should’ve seen the dark

Behind those headlights

(bass enters — slow pulse)

They found her by the treeline

Off an old farm road

Dress torn at the shoulder

Hands clenched in the cold

Sheriff said they’re lookin’

Said it’ll take time

But time don’t mean nothin’

When the girl was mine

(silence — let it hang)

Chorus — low, steady

There’s a gravel road

Past the county line

Where the trees grow thick

And the stars don’t shine

You can say you’re sorry

You can beg the sky

But some men answer

Eye for eye

(instrument breath)

I knocked on his trailer

Just before dawn

He opened the door

Like nothin’ was wrong

Said it was an accident

Said he lost control

I watched the truth

Shake through his soul

(brush snare — faint)

They’ll say he went missin’

Maybe skipped town

Truck still in the driveway

Keys on the ground

And I’ll sit at supper

In her empty chair

Hear the wind move soft

Through her mama’s hair

(final chorus — stripped down)

That gravel road

Don’t speak my name

It just keeps quiet

And does the same

Call it justice

Call it sin

I won’t lose

What I lost again

(last line — near whisper)

Not again.