The Day I Buried My Brother

They shipped him home in '04 Half his head, half his mind VA said he'd get better with time Time ran out before the VA signed I found him in the barn on a Tuesday Our daddy's old Colt in his hand Left a note that said "Don't tell mama Brother, help me take the man"

The day I buried my brother Just me and a shovel and the sun The day I buried my brother We weren't soldiers, but we got it done Pine box I built in the woodshop Flag I pulled down off his wall The day I buried my brother Was the last good thing I'd call

Dug that hole behind the mulberry Where we built the fort when we were nine Put his Zippo in the pocket Of the dress blues that didn't shine Spoke the words mama taught us Through a throat that wouldn't work Tucked his dog tags in my jean pocket And I walked back to the truck

Preacher called me late that evening Said "Son, we should've done it right" I said "Preacher, he done his duty I was doin' mine that night He don't need a flag and a volley He don't need a hymn and a prayer He just needed a brother to carry him And I was the only one there"

I carried him further than Any pallbearer ever walked Six hundred feet of Alabama With every memory I never talked I carried him through the mornings We ran barefoot after the train I carried him through the cancer That took our mama in '08 I carried him through the two tours And the third one he never could say I carried him to the mulberry And I laid my brother down today

The day I buried my brother Just me and a shovel and the sun The day I buried my brother Ain't nothin' since been undone I come back every Sunday With a Camel and a cup of rye The day I buried my brother Was the day part of me died The day I buried my brother Was the day part of me died

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