Flowers

He couldn't seem to get it straight

and when the words came out, she walked away.

Feeling so disoriented,

his fingers were splinters, his heart was fermented.

Roses red in the gutter where she'd drown them

and said, "They'd look better dead."

Everyone said "Take cover with another lover!"

That boy's got the heart of a snake.

Can't wait around for another lover,

it's your heart or i'll give it a resting place.

She's standing outside, feeling that she's there to stay.

The clouds covered up the sun but she liked it better that way.

She let her fingernails rot beneath the paint.

Different colors for different days locked in a case inside her brain.

I've got some flowers for your mother

Because her only daughters dead.

I've got some flowers for your mother

Because she's buried in my garden bed.

(She kept her heart locked away.)

I've got some pictures for your mother

of a girl beyond the grave.

I've got some pictures for your mother

of a girl that Jesus never saved.