The June Dust Ballad

The dust of June is on my boots, I've come another hundred miles Through valleys deep and twisted roots, and faces wearing weary smiles I sat me down to hear the news, a tale for this American land And saw the same old worn-out shoes, walking patterns in the sand They put two old men on a lighted stage, in a town they call Atlanta A well-known war on a brand new page, a political Santa Ana There was Biden's voice, a whispered thing, and Trump with words of fire and steel And a nation watched the pendulum swing, wondering which version was real Oh, the wheel it turns, the story's told

In headlines fresh and ages old Of power won and justice sought And the bitter lessons dearly bought It's just another verse, you see In the long, long song of history The nine in robes, they cast their votes, from a marble hall so high And sent a ruling down that smotes the folks beneath an open sky In Grants Pass town, the law was made, you can't just sleep out on the ground So the homeless man, now more afraid, must keep on wandering 'round and 'round

Meanwhile the sun, a copper plate, is burning down on Texas plains And Phoenix asphalt seals your fate, while everyone just prays for rains The power grid is stretched and thin, the air itself feels hard to breathe Another fight you can't quite win, that the changing climate does bequeath Oh, the wheel it turns, the story's told In headlines fresh and ages old Of power won and justice sought And the bitter lessons dearly bought It's just another verse, you see

In the long, long song of history From the highest court to the TV screen, to the heat that shimmers on the road It feels like scenes we've always seen, a heavy and familiar load Some search for hope, some search for blame, some just search for a little shade But everyone still speaks the name of the future they're afraid was made So I'll tune my strings and I'll move along, past the glowing screens and angry shouts And put today inside a song, to sing away the rising doubts Yeah, I'll sing away the rising doubts... And be on my way by morning.