Highway Patrolman

I didn’t think

I was gonna let him go
Until the last leg

Then I started speeding up

But I knew--

I knew I wasn’t

Speeding up

To catch him

It was to get a last look at him
Before he went over the border

Part of me thought about

What I would do

If he stopped

Got out of the car

And just stood there

Just stood there

In front of my car

Daring me to run him down

Or get out and shoot him
Or…

I thought he might want to

Give me a choice, for once

About how things

Were going to go down

Between the two of us

People talk about

Going over

Like it’s the easiest thing

In the world

But you still have to wake up

In the morning

Knowing you have to make

A whole new life for yourself

And you can’t ask for help

And you can’t…

For the first time

You can’t call your brother

And get him

To bail you out

Like he always does

You ever think

When Cain killed Abel

He knew something

God didn’t?

I know how my story

Looks as a story

But it sure looks

A lot different

As a life

As the guy living it

I know who the villain is

And it’s not Franky

Because there’s no greater sin

Than letting down
Somebody you love

We’re all given things

Too heavy

For us to carry

And it’s our job

To carry them

Until we drop with them

That’s what I should have done

Gone with him

Over the border

Helped him start again

I’m no brother

Just because I let him go

A brother would have gone
Even further with him

Would have done more

Than just let go

But I thought about you

And how I’d be

Without you

Franky’s Franky

Because he took a turn

Away from you

Not his choice

But that’s how it happened

And he never got

His head on straight

After that

Losing you

Losing you to me

Losing me with you

It’s all the same damn thing

When you’re half-drunk

And some idiot makes a comment

You don’t like

I’m the good brother

Because I got a good job

And a good woman

And a good life

That I put together

While my brother

Was giving up things for his country

He was never going

To get back

And nobody knows

How much bad I have

In my heart

Nobody knows

Just how bad

I really am