Joe and Maria on a Train to Lordsburg – December 1942
Maria, I’d have sworn our lives were buttoned up and fairly squared away
Loose ends gathered, letters answered, bills all paid and taxes reconciled
But just when our tomorrows look as crystal clear as that new rising star
God tricks in and nails us with this unexpected soon-to-be-born child
On top of that the government insists that you and I must take a train
Way across the desert out to Lordsburg – eight hundred miles away
Back to that rustic county seat where it’s recorded you and I were born --
It couldn’t be worse timing, what with you expecting any day
Maria, there are times I think our life is like this westbound railroad track
That lulls us into dreaming with its lullaby of soft clackety-clack
And then some switch malfunctions and our car’s rerouted into no-man’s land
Bound towards some unknown destination on a journey we’d have never planned
But as we start to come to grips with this unwanted, bitter twist of fate
We soon begin to recognize that these fresh tracks still lead toward heaven’s gate
I’m hoping we’ll reach Lordsburg long before the sun gets buried by the dark
Perhaps in some hotel next to the depot we can slip December’s gloom
I swear I’d even settle for some nearby good Samaritan’s warm barn
As long as it had straw enough to let you rock this stranger in your womb
Maria, don’t you feel it, feel the force of our impending destiny
As if the driving wheel were pulling towards some arcing rainbow’s sacred end
Pulling towards some shining future just beyond the twilight’s silvered gleam
Pulling towards some splendid glory just around eternity’s next bend
Maria, there are times I think our life is like this westbound railroad track
That lulls us into dreaming with its lullaby of soft clackety-clack
But then some switch misleads us and our car’s rerouted into parts unknown
And despite all of our stitching and unstitching - our itinerary’s blown
And yet I have this notion that somehow our child will rise above this earth
And multitudes will be transformed exactly at the moment of his birth