Form a ring and wind and twine
Round the ol’ grape vine
Heavy on the wire from the house
Salt the cow and kill the calf
Meet yer lonesome with a once and a half
Gent’s on the east and ladies on the south
The solemn boy carries his silver damage
Sold but for, the number and the image
His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
When he sings he slurs
& uses the meat of his thigh
T’hold the book he wrote when he was lame
So wrapped up in his flat baritone
No castrato could woo him in from the rain
For he never raised his voice when his britches
Was spillin’ over with that honey truck richness
His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems