A Lullaby for Ms. Harris

Hush now baby don’t you cry
Mama’s gonna take you down to the riverside
Oh your daddy’s gone, but do not cry
We’ll find our way to the riverside

Son, did you forget your coat this time?
Mom, you promised that we’d all be fine
But the wood beneath my feet is wet
Where are we going? Are we there yet?

You see, I saw it from the cliff above
This desperate act disguised as love
First one by one, then three by three
But what did it have to do with me?

And so I sat and watched all through the night
Felt too powerless to put up a fight
It might be her fault, but it might be me
Seems we all had some better place to be

ALBUM(S):

From In Search of a Unified Theory (2007) and LIVE: Deconstructing the American Dream (2006)

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NOTES:

Perhaps you remember this news story… “LaShuan Harris took her three children on a train from Oakland into San Francisco on Oct. 19, 2005. She bought the little boys hot dogs, and they walked along Fisherman’s Wharf. Then Harris undressed the three boys, ages 16 months, 2 and 6, and dropped them one at a time over the low railing into chilly San Francisco Bay, police say.”

One man was the lone observer…and he reported it to the authorities. Perhaps he did his civic duty…or perhaps this shows our over-reliance upon social systems (over relationships) to bring about good in our world.

Where were this woman’s friends? Family?

Perhaps it’s overstating it a bit, but perhaps we are our brother’s keepers.