Rufus Buck

I lived on the Snake Creek
The summer of '95
A shanty I called home
Where the Arkansas collides
The sun, it turned my skin to leather
And the cotton gave callous to my hands
My knees were stained with red clay
Yet I never cursed that land

The sun had taken its leave
When a rap came upon our door
Five young men stood ragged and thin
We had never seen their faces before
They said they'd give some silver
If I'd feed them biscuits and greens
You see, I was a Christian woman
I thought my Savior had called upon me
I poured them water in tin cups
I recited the Lord's Prayer
They did not bow their heads
Rather I could feel their heavy stares
They wiped their mouths on their sleeves
The tall one reached into his coat
To grab the silver they had promised
But they'd come for something more
A pistol he withdrew
And he held it to my husband's head
Four of them dragged him into the yard
While one dragged me to bed
I saw five sets of eyes
In the hours that went by
They laughed and pinned my hands
Until I began to bleed from the inside
The last thing I recall
Was my husband calling my name
It must have been with a thrust
That the blood went still in my veins

I lived on the Snake Creek
The summer of '95
A shanty I called home
Where the Arkansas collides