Before and After - Carrie Newcomer

The dust settles after a hit and run

Bewildered by the damage done

I don’t know why we choose the roads we travel

Or how a life could get so unraveled

We live our lives from then until now

By the mercies received over the mark upon our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life by before and after

Once a trick of light made me believe

A red fire was blazing from every tree

We held hands as the evening gathered

I forgave myself for what I didn’t ask her

Once I saw the sky filled with falling stars

Bumped my head in the dark and it left a scar

Held on too tight before I let it go

Then forgave myself for what I didn’t know

We live our lives from then until now

By the mercies received over the mark upon our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life by before and after

I’ve stretched my soul over fifty states

I have lived on fumes and religious cornflakes

And once I dreamt my shoes had grown thin and battered

And forgave myself for what didn’t matter

God said, «Cain, where is your brother?»

And who will tell his grieving mother?

Jacob dreamt an angel, called his name

And he never was quite the same

We live our lives from then until now

By the mercies received over the mark upon our brow

To my heart I’ll collect what the four winds will scatter

And frame my life by before and after