Seven Scarecrows

Twice 'round a year
You start to hear 'em

They give you less and less time
Between each showing

It was five years ago
The first time you heard the rustle

Rustle, rustle, rustle
Like water trying to break through dirt
But can't

Sit up in bed
But stop your hand
Before the lamp goes on

You never want to turn on a light
Until you know whether or not
You're better off in the dark

Look out the window
What do you see?

Seven scarecrows
--And that ain't good

Seven scarecrows means Daddy's coming back to town
Probably be here by mornin'
So you know what to do

Get out of bed
Quiet, quiet
He may not be here yet
But now's not the time to go makin' noise

Those scarecrows aren't there for nothin'
They're keepin' an eye on you
Until Daddy gets here

Wake up Mama
Wake up Tad
Wake up Vicki

Follow the plan
The plan is there for a reason
We stick to the plan

Vicki's job is to go to the garage and get the basket
She is not allowed to touch anything in the basket
She shouldn't even be looking in the basket but she will
And it doesn't matter anyway
Because she knows damn well what's in there

Mama packs, and packs fast
Enough clothes, enough food
Enough and only enough
Mama's good at this anyway

Your job is simple
Make sure Mama and Vicki do their job
Because once they're done
Then you have to do
What you have to do

Take the gasoline out of the basket
Mama and Vicki are already in the car
And it's idling

You look out the window
The scarecrows seem closer now
Like they're crawling towards you
When you're not looking

That's not true
The scarecrows have never hurt you directly
But one time you didn't run fast enough
And Daddy showed up
And before you could do anything
That nice man Mama was seeing
Got thrown out into the road

Before that there were only six scarecrows
And then there were seven
And the seventh one was wearing the same clothes Mama's friend had on
When he went out into the street

You try not to think too much about that
Or about the scar on your arm or the one the back of your neck
Or how Vicki still walks with a little bit of a limp
Or Mama with her bad eye

You don't think about anything
But the plan

The kitchen gets it first
Then the living room, the bedrooms
The closets, countertops
And when everything's covered
The gas can goes in the bathtub

Take a few steps outside the house
Light a match
Toss it inside

It'll land right in that puddle in front of the tv
And that'll be the end of it

The immediate heat wakes you up
And you realize
You'd been sort of sleepwalking this whole time

You get in the car
Vicki puts her head down on your lap
Mama pulls out

'In three more years, you'll be driving' Mama tells you
And you can hear in her voice
That she's looking forward to giving you
One more responsibility
That should be hers

As you pull away from the house
You look at another neighborhood
You won't be coming back to

Just like all the others
And all the other times
You look in the backyard
Where the scarecrows were
And there's nothing there

No room to hold that many scarecrows anyway
But you swear you saw them

The same way you swear you saw them that first time
When you still had a farm to call home
And Daddy was out in the fields
Crying and wailing
Until there wasn't anything but cold silence
And Mama came walking out of the corn
Holding an axe
Blood on her face
And pointing the axe at you she said--

'Go get the gas can before your Daddy gets back'

And now it burns
Now it all burns
And you're free to sleep
Until the car stops
And somebody
Wakes you up