Red Pheasant / Man In Black

i’m gonna walk right out of hell

i ain’t trying to hurt no one

well there might be someone special,

but by now they’re dead and gone

there’s a line of black smoke rising

you can hear the woman screaming

and she’ll always wail

cuz they took her boy

stuffed up in a big museum

 

my life was always my life

never had much needed less

all the ranchers ranch

the walkers walk

and the seers all born blessed

take the god up out the babies

cut the tongue out if you’re to free ’em

so i bled out alone in that burned out home

lord i’d wake up but i ain’t dreaming

 

i’m gonna walk right out of hell

i ain’t never hurt no one

now my mosom walks the fields

across the bluffs into the sun

take the god up out the babies

cut the tongue up out if you’re to free ’em

so i bled out alone in that burned out home

and he’s off to fight koreans

 

there’s a mother in the dark brown dirt

she wants a reason to forget

so when you hear my voice you better make a choice

or god help end up like them

 

when they come ’round for your children

dogs that never get their fill

take an old man’s tip

put ’em in the dirt

or give your soul away piecemeal

 

i’m gonna walk right out of hell

i ain’t trying to hurt no one

well there might be someone special

but by now they’re dead and gone

there’s a line of black smoke rising

you can hear the women screaming

and the fathers stand

and their lights go out

see their boys in the big museum

Bibliographical info

Sarain Frank Soonias, "Red Pheasant / Man In Black," from All Wrong Horses on Fire That Go Away in the Rain. NeWest Press, 2025. Published with permission from the publisher and author. 

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