Baby Birch

This is the song for Baby Birch
I will never know you
And at the back of what we've done
There is that knowledge of you

I wish we could take every path
I could spend a hundred years
Adoring you
Yes, I wish we could take every path
Because I hated to close
The door on you

Do you remember staring
Up at the stars
So far away in their bulletproof cars?
We heard the rushing, slow intake
Of the dark, dark water
And the engine breaks
And I said

How about them engine breaks?
And, if I should die before I wake
Will you keep an eye on Baby Birch?
Because I'd hate to see her
Make the same mistakes

When it was dark
I called and you came
When it was dark, I saw shapes
When I see stars, I feel, in your hand
And I see stars
And I reel, again

Well mercy me. I'll be goddamned
It's been a long, long time
Since I last saw you
And I have never known the plan
It's been a long, long time
How are you?
Your eyes are green. Your hair is gold
Your hair is black. Your eyes are blue
I closed the ranks, and I doubled back
But, you know, I hated to close
The door on you

We take a walk along the dirty lake
Hear the goose
Cussing at me over her eggs
You poor little cousin
I don't want your dregs
(A little baby fussing all over my legs)

There is a blacksmith
And there is a shepherd
And there is a butcher-boy
And there is a barber, who's cutting
And cutting away at my only joy
I saw a rabbit
As slick as a knife
And as pale as a candlestick
And I had thought it'd be harder to do
But I caught her, and skinned her quick
Held her there
Kicking and mewling
Upended, unspooling, unsung and blue
Told her: Wherever you go
Little runaway bunny
I will find you
And then she ran
As they're liable to do

Be at peace, baby, and begone