Jeri Katherine Howell

Lyrics

Soil
© Nat Colten

Water flows down that barren hillside
soiled with tension from on high.
Water flows down that barren hillside
While the weight of the world’s on my mind.

Often times I wonder
why my crops won't grow.
All of the world lies under our feet
in the hands of microbes.
Oh, don’t you know?
Don’t you know?
We’re all ninety percent microbe.

When water flows down that barren hillside
minerals are not alone.
When water flows down that barren hillside
Carbonaceous colloids all will go.

Often times I plunder
for to satisfy
all the world rides down on our backs
whipping stride by stride.
Oh, don’t you hide.
Don’t you hide.
Personhood’s not your right.

When water flows down that barren hillside
sweat rains from pore to pore.
When water flows down that barren hillside
saturation means we’ll take no more.

Come on home all you wayward children.
Look at what we have done to this land.
I’ve gotta make somewhere my own
and know it’s not just mine
and take my neighbor by the hand
and shed a tear for that soil.

When water flows down that barren hillside.