Civilians

The carriage horses stamp and fume Until all color's gone They leave the street in black and white And bring the eventing coming on Lovers tug their way out of gloves Out of shoes, and gray chiffon The driver pulls his blanket high And pretends to look beyond Oh, pray for you, pray for me Sing it like a song Life is sort but by the grace of God This night is long Girls crowd into bathroom stalls The boys smoke in their cars The general, he's in civilian clothes Standing at the bar He waves at the deaf flower lady "Come sit by me, sweetheart" He draws a napkin battle plan Says, "This is where we start" Oh, pray for you, pray for me Sing it like a song Life is sort but by the grace of God This night is long There are no more hummingbirds Like there used to be They're fat and slow and careless now They've turned blue and mean And the parrots sound like monkeys Screamin' from the trees As the decent people Fumble for their keys We used to spend the night in town Down by City Hall And the water works of Irish Beach Just below the falls We'd walk down to the Park Hotel Past the Baptist Veteran's Mall Back then, a man in uniform Might mean anything at all Oh, pray for you, pray for me Sing it like a song Life is short but by the grace or cruel Heart of God, the night is long --- Civilians - Joe Henry