3. West Memphis Arkansas

West Memphis, Arkansas
The river is the reason for this town.
From here there’s no sound, still I know it’s there
Out there to the east, in the dark, running deep
It’s the trains and the interstate, the sirens in the distance
I listen to late at night, all the nights I don’t sleep
He comes into town on the greyhound, under the radar,
down at the playground,
Watching for his boy, I know what I know and stay away
Hey Joey, let’s go over to the river to play today
Make you a little boat of paper
Float it on the water and let it drift away
This is where the road, the rail and the river cross
They cut across this town and keep going on
to some place you never saw
This is where the road, the rail and the river cross
But there are four ways out of West Memphis Arkansas
This little boy sleeps through all the noise,
I wonder what he dreams as the sirens scream
And the train shouts back, clatters down the track,
next block over
And in the morning he’ll rise with the sun,
My golden one, my gift, my mirror,
My hope, my danger, my masterpiece, my anchor
This is where the road, the rail and the river cross
They cut across this town and keep going on,
to someplace I wish I never saw
This is where the road, the rail and the river cross
But there are four ways out of West Memphis Arkansas