What Can a Mother Do

She was an only child — born to run
By the time her shoes wore out
She was giving blood
She was unwanted in seventeen states
With the engine light on
And Alaskan plates
What can a mother do
When she knows her baby’s gone
What can a mother do
Her baby’s never coming home
He was the youngest of seven kids
Had to fight for every crumb he was lucky to get
He learned to work with the little that he had
By the time he joined the service
He was three times a dad
What can a mother do
When she knows her baby’s gone
What can a mother do
Her baby’s never coming home
Jesus on the billboard, heaven on high
We smashed our fists like glass against the sky
It’s enough to make you run all night long
Through the yellow-orange lights into the car alarms
What can a mother do
When she knows her baby’s gone
What can a mother do
Her baby’s never coming home