Gravel & Gloria

Verse 1 Cold plywood walls, breath hangin’ white Three wool blankets! Still losing the fight Boots hit gravel, frost on my chin It’s Christmas on Bagram, let the day begin Pre-Chorus Gravel keeps talkin’, generators moan Jet engines idle like ghosts of home Then the chaplain’s pipes cry through the frozen haze “Gloria…” almost stops me in place Chorus Angels we have heard on high Floatin’ over a desert sky I gave my Christmas, so they could have theirs Cold gravel prayers in the rocket-glare Pipes fade out, I walk inside Normal don’t mean nothin’ when your soul’s on ice Verse 2 Operations center glows, coffee burnt like always Voices drop lower, like they don’t trust The day to be holy, or even just still Radios crackle, somebody’s hill Is burnin’ again, same as last night We nod like it’s normal, pretend it’s alright Bridge All day long, they echo in my skull Highland ghosts where the desert’s dull No snow, no tree, no reason to sing Just a chaplain’s pipes and the hurt they bring Outro (slide fades, voice drops to a whisper) Christmas on Bagram… I stood the line. So others could open presents… Under trees with colored lights. Back in my rack, earbuds in tight… Christmas songs play… Till I’m gone for the night.