My Sister's Tiny Hands

We came in this world together
Legs wrapped 'round each other
My cheek against my sister's
We were born like tangled vineWe lived along the river
Where the black clouds never lingered
The sunlight spread like honey
Through my sister's tiny handsBut while picking sour apples
In the wild waving grasses
Sister stumbled in the brier
And was bitten by a snakeEvery creature casts a shadow
Under the sun's golden finger
But when the sun sinks past the waving grass
Some shadows are dragged alongAlone, I took to drinking
Bottles of cheap whiskey
And staggering through the back woods
Killing snakes with a sharpened stickBut still I heard her laughing
In the wild waving grasses
Still her tiny hands went splashing
At the river's sparkling shoreSo I took my rusty gas can
And an old iron shovel
I set the woods to burning
And choked the river up with stonesEvery creature casts a shadow
Under the sun's golden finger
But when the sun sinks past the waving grass
Some shadows are dragged along