The Gospel of Mary - Josh Ritter, The Milk Carton Kids

We left our home by dark of night

Joseph and my boy and I

When all the gunmen were asleep

We slipped into the forest

We left everything behind

Joseph and my boy and I

Took only what we had to keep

In the hopes they would not find us

We prayed our prayers, we broke our bread

With others who had even less

'Til finally all we had were dreams

And we hoped that they would fill us

We lived on roots and the bark of trees

Joseph and my boy and me

Drank the water from the stream

And hoped it would not kill us

A man offered a change of luck

All we had for a cargo truck

With fifty others in the back

They shut the door behind us

It got so hot we could not breathe

Joseph and my boy and me

When we arrived, the sky was black

That’s where I buried Joseph

The river stole away my shoes

The soles of both my feet were bruised

My boy lay silent in my arms

His dreams were deep and soundless

The day was long, the sun was high

A hammer on an anvil sky

By the wall I fell and cried

For death was all around us

He found me there where I had slipped

Put handcuffs tight around my wrists

Shackles tied around my legs

As if I could escape you

And since I could not hold my babe

You took my only boy away

And though I plead and though I beg

You won’t say where he’s gone to

I’m tired now, my eyes are dry

There’s only me alone tonight

In a land I thought would be

Ours if we could make it

A land that welcomes strangers in

A land that beckoned like a friend

If I had the chance again

I’d rather die than take it

The holy family got away

A simpler time, a simpler place

And Egypt stretched out its great hand

To welcome them with mercy

Now Joseph’s dead out on the road

My boy is gone and I don’t know

Where he is or where I am

With every breath, it hurts me

And you who watched from your great gates

Watched us as we met our fates

Then took our pride and stole our babes

You will one day die of something

But as you rest your weary head

Your family close around your bed

May your thoughts all fly instead

To the ones who you gave nothing

The naked one, the starving child

Who crawled the final brutal miles

Through blood and filth and rock and wild

In the hopes of only living

May the pain within you dwell

And may it follow you to hell

All alone in a tiny cell

Forever unforgiven

May the pain within you dwell

And may it follow you to hell

All alone in a tiny cell

Forever unforgiven