Prime Prine
There were years I lived on the
Strength of John Prine songs, singing
Grandpa Was a Carpenter
When I was feeling down or
Old People when I needed
To swim in melancholy.
I saw him my sophomore
Year Lenoir-Rhyne College.
He swayed and drank and warbled
Reaching for the mike stand one
Too many times when he near
Fell off the stage and then he
Sang a song I didin’t know
About Jesus walking on
Water into a boat’s path,
And when he finished a young
Man stood up and shouted You’re
A fool, Jesus can do any-
Thing and loud-stomped out the aisle.
Prine had been in the army,
Had been a mail carrier,
He had seen some crazy shit.
He reached for his beer and went
Straight into Illegal Smile.
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