The Day the X-Man Came

I lived in my house

for 33 years

Before the flood came,

before the land let loose its

tears.

I thought that if you worked

hard 33 years, well

Then just 12 more

and you could sit and rest

a spell.

Why,

I remember one corner of

the house

was leanen and fallen in

33 years ago.

When my old man came

haulen in

wood and blocks and we

set in

To builden year by year,

builden what we never had

before.

It was slow, hard to see

any end to the builden

and hammerin,

but

We saved that corner, built

it back —

laid away and saved and

raised five more

to lay away and save.

 

All our lives

We ain’t never missed a day

of payen some way,

Doing the best we can,

But I’m 52 and

He’s 62

And it’s way too late for them

E-Z credit plans

Carpet, couch, the family

tree,

Baby shoes and Bible too

Went floaten on down to

Kermit and Crum

Floaten away to Kingdom

Come.

 

And I know they

Ain’t no amount of misery

Gonna bring them sweet

things

Back to me

And I know it, I know it, I

know it

But I still can’t see

Why we gotta pay

Them Judas strippers to

haul us away.

 

How on earth can we

Stand

 

Selling our land

On the installment plan?

And all them politicians that

never do

nothing but pat me on the

back

and tell a lie or two.

Later or sooner, it’s all

overdue

them flood’s garnisheed

me

they’ll garnishee you.

 

Well, it took all of them years,

All 33,

Floods and floods and barrels

of tears

To bring me to this day

And I sit and I cry and I wail

and I moan.

But no amount of hurt and

pain’s

Gonna float me back my

home.

 

So I just sit and wait

for the X-man to come

burn my builden down

 

Not much else to say

33 years

washed away

— Jim Webb