Part And Parcel by Jarrod Walker published on 2024-03-16T20:45:34Z “Part & Parcel” My great great great grandfather Died down in a coal mine Up in a holler That now bears his name And the shadow of that mountain Before the dawn has crest Lands on my kinfolks Who’ve been laid to rest Now wherever I go Wherever I am For better or worse I am tethered to that land Now I got friends that ask me “When are you coming home?” But I escaped the event horizon And the pull of that black hole Lord I miss my friends And you know I miss the hills But I can’t even drive through without Thinking about mama popping pills In a soma coma On a worn out couch In a rundown trailer On the outskirts of town The heat and the tornadoes The bible-thumping hypocrites Suicides and tragedies And mama’s mean, drunk friends What should I come back for? Who and what would greet me there? Back-breaking jobs for low wage Red leaning folks who think that’s fair? I ain’t a sheep to be sheared I don’t exist just to pay bills And funnel money to the 1% Who couldn’t care less if I get killed I won’t be part of the pattern Of history repeating in rhymes I won’t be part and parcel To a culture turning big blind eyes My great great great grandfather Died down in their coal mine Up in McKay hollow He doesn’t want me doing the same Genre Country