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
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.