The Deep-Yard Dream by Matthew Milia

Most of my dreams are robberies
The family dies, the child flees
Through backyards filled with enemies and
Fences fleshed by panicked knees and
Freedom is the deep-night there
The hurried-flight emergencies
Hospital-hell tragedies are finding me in countries

So far
From my home
So hard
The night’s grown
And it seems to holler and glow
So long

The neighborhood is ceaseless where
Backyards kiss like memories and
Nothing is like the hot nightmare of
Hearing them in melodies and
Dangerous cars pull in our driveway
Blast their brights into our windows and
Though they don’t have guns or knives they
Fill me with a fear that takes me

So far
From my home
So hard
The night’s grown
And it seems to holler and glow
So long

So when the backyards finally end
You’ll find me on dark-highway, send
My fear to all the highwaymen at
The foot of the dark-highway bending
Back into a home again
A driveway lit like a dead-end for
So long

Appears on The Orion Songbook