Winchester Dust

[Verse 1]
I'm six steel strings and Winchester dust
Hung on a nail that's turning to rust
I remember the smell of the apple-bloom frost
The Tuesday before everything was lost
You'd tune me up on the porch-step chair
And run a calloused thumb through Caleb's hair

[Chorus]
Don't you say his name in that quiet way
Like he's just a whisper from yesterday
Don't you fold his clothes in a cedar chest
And pray for a silence you call 'rest'

[Verse 2]
Then the tires screamed on the Shenandoah pass
A sound like a pane of irreplaceable glass
Now I just watch you walk the linoleum floor
And check the lock twice on the kitchen door
Mama said, "Hush now, it's just God's plan"
With a dish-rag twisted in her hand

[Chorus]
Don't you say his name in that quiet way
Like he's just a whisper from yesterday
Don't you fold his clothes in a cedar chest
And pray for a silence you call 'rest'

[Bridge]
I watched you darn his denim sleeve
A crooked stitch of make-believe
That frayed old seam ain't ever comin' clean

[Outro]
I'm six steel strings, I'm protective rage
Don't you dare turn that goddamn page.