Late For Dinner

verse 1 Sheppard served in Pharaoh's Army Nineteen sixty-eight Came home with his body parts intact Spent a year inside his room smoking cigarettes Never talked about it after that verse 2 Shep and I got married on the day Nixon resigned Honeymooned down Mexicali way Sometimes when he held me tight he'd look like he was blind Or staring at a graveyard far away And if he blew in through that doorway today Like a long-forgotten echo of winter I don't know if I'd shoot him in the face Or tell him that he's late for dinner verse 3 For thirteen years my love grew for this solitary man Who reacted strong when anyone would cross me With hard looks, fisticuffs, if it came to that He did the little things that said he loved me verse 4 And in the morning he would cook for me and drop me off to work Kiss me on the cheek to start my day There was no warning the last time, he would not come no more There was no time to memorize his face And if he blew in through that doorway today Like a long-forgotten echo of winter I don't know if I'd shoot him in the face Or tell him that he's late for dinner Verse 5 Now I almost went to look for him, but couldn't find the nerve Something there did not sit right with me I realize this battle is not what I deserved Chasing Israelites through parted seas And if he blew in through that doorway today Like a long-forgotten echo of winter I don't know if I'd shoot him in the face Or tell him that he's late for dinner