Dirt

I remember that summer

I was ten years old

When our days ceased to shine

No, you could not take a breath

When those black blizzards came

Strippin' land in dire need of rain

There was dirt on the floor

As mama swept all day long

Leavin' trails of tears and mud down her face

There was dirt in our beds

And there was dirt in our clothes

And there was dirt in the little that we ate

We had heard about the market's fall

A couple years before

But the fields and the harvest all seemed fine

Sometimes the things that kill us

That which we don't know

That strip the land of everything but pride

Stay close together

That's all we knew to get by

I recall a helpless feelin'

First time that I saw my father cry

Lookin' back on everything we had, on everything we lost

Still makes me wonder was stayin' worth the cost?

But the town folk up and left

They boarded up the schools and banks and the churches

And that, to me, was wrong

Come next year, it would be better

Will the last one standin' tall before the walls

Show the most resolve?

They announced the new deal

With the conservation act and then the relief fund

But we were on our knees

There was little hope by then

So we just stood there in that line

And we thanked the man for that little bit of cheese

Stay close together

That's all we knew to get by

How I recall a helpless feelin'

The first time that I saw my father cry

Lookin' back on everything we had, on everything we lost

Still makes me wonder was stayin' worth the cost?