Myrrhine

We were crawling through the underbrush

Out in South Dakota in the snow

We were searching for a place to hide

When you found a dying bird

And we named him after Jesus Christ

And we told him all the tallest tales

And we fed him seeds and flower stems

And resolved to keep him warm

Then he flew away with no regrets

And we watched him as he disappeared

And we sat and tried to sprout some wings

And ended up falling asleep

So we set ourselves to work again

Built a kitchen table with our hands

And we filled it with the highest hopes

And the most unlikely plans

And we emptied out the dusty jars

And an aging pail of yellow paint

Turned the ashes of our loved ones

Into art before our eyes

And we carved their figures out of soap

Every detail was exactly right

And they were beautiful to me and you

But they couldn't speak a word

You were scared that we'd wasted all that love

But it was more than we could ever get rid of

We kept our word, never turned back to see the graves

It was better way, couldn't tell the difference

We drew a bird on the wall and named him after us

And he stayed by our side and never flew away