papa's coming home

he had a 9 mm. and a beat-up cadillac
he says "in this world there ain’t no going back"
he rolls the window down wide and lights another cigarette
that rearview mirror ain’t seen nothing yet

and i was standing by the door
and i could hear my mother praying
and he knelt down on the floor
so we could talk face to face
and he took me by the hand
and he said, "don’t be afraid
i don’t love you any less
you’re just standing in my way"

it’s all right
papa’s coming home
that’s my boy
papa’s coming home soon
so soon

and he tried to teach me well
about barstool etiquette
and i damn near learned with what little i had left
and i try to understand that once the bottle took the man
there was a deeper motivation that was out of his hands

but i woke up last night
and i think i called his name
and i wondered if he left out of hope or out of shame
he never needed an excuse that i didn’t supply
but if i had my chance now
i’d pin him to the ground and ask him why

it’s all right
papa’s coming home
it’s all right now child
papa’s coming home

~jay morgans