Wave - Joe Henry

I waved to you as my boat was leaving

Hats flew up and everybody cheered

But you turned as I guess someone spoke to you

And in a sea of arms you disappeared

I lived the life of a ragged soldier

The secretary to a rebel king

He kept us drunk and hungry in a jungle

Tangled in the lilies of his scheme

We gambled and we fought with one another

We had no code to give us unity

Most died among us without God or honor

As blood became our faith and currency

And all the while I kept your name beside me

I wrote it, but refused it on my tongue

Believing you a song still there inside me

I feared your loss if ever it were sung

I found myself at last upon a shoreline

I booked my passage home and stood in tears

With a bag of apples and a forged passport

-The first I’d seen my face in seven years…

Now I wonder at the day when I might find you

Appear among the living at your door

Will you have a husband and some children?

Will we share a secret anymore?

Life is brutal to the weak and sober

Its powers of persuasion dark and grave

Lt pushes its way up to the railing

Then turns its face when you start to wave