1980 Run from the Blade

Summer came in with a van full of names

New paint, old boards, and a match to the blame

Laughed at the stories, kicked through the leaves

Signed our names where the old wood breathes

The lake lay flat as a stone on a grave

Too calm, too cold, too hungry to save

Every window held a face we denied

Every ripple said somebody died

Don’t go down to the shore

Don’t look back through the trees

There’s a hand on the oar

There’s a curse in the breeze

Run from the blade, run for the trees

Hold your breath as the whole camp bleeds

No one sleeps as the past keeps score

Vengeance kills for the kid ignored

Generator coughs, then the black rolls in

Screen door slams with a rusty grin

Boot tracks vanish where the mud turns red

And the phone line hangs like a thing found dead

Somewhere a mother voice breaks in the storm

Sweet as a lullaby, sharp as a thorn

Says the past wants blood for the love it keeps

And the boy in her head tells her, stab them deep

Don’t go near the dock

Don’t turn toward the screams

There’s a shape in the fog

There’s a blade in the trees

Run from the blade, run for the trees

Hold your breath as the whole camp bleeds

No one sleeps as the past keeps score

Vengeance kills for the kid ignored

The water keeps a secret

In the black beneath the reeds

A birthday with no candles

A mouth that never breathes

A child voice below the pier

Not to save, just to be heard

A mother grieving, knife in hand

They get what they deserve

Arrow through the bed

Axe in the face

Knife through the throat

Machete at the lake

Run from the blade, run for the trees

Hold your breath as the whole camp bleeds

No one sleeps as the past keeps score

Vengeance kills for the kid ignored