River and the Road
Written by Tom May and Robert T. Reilly


An adaptation of a poem by a well known Nebraskan author, written for me some years ago. The melody was composed in Deer Lodge, Montana, as winter made an early appearance.


Chorus 1
Speech it is a river, but silence is a road
Words are what I give her, but silence is our code
Caught between the day and night, the River and the Road

Verse 1
In the morning of a lingering dream, the sun behind the clouds
I pack my heart and leave her side, and say the words out loud
I take the van and drive it, to the rivers running south
The mist upon my windshield, the words still in my mouth

Chorus 2
Speech it is a river, but silence is a road
Words are what I give her, but silence is our code
Caught between the dusk and the dawn, the River and the Road

Verse 2
Across the border, heading west
Sun shadows stain the ground
And the echo of my mindless wheels makes the only noontime sound
I should have turned at Gothenburg
I should have circled home
But distance is a mistress, writing mountain peaks for poems

Chorus 1
Speech it is a river, but silence is a road
Words are what I give her, but silence is our code
Caught between the day and night, the River and the Road

Verse 3
In the evening of illusion fled
When the sun has turned to blood
And the road goes on forever, the rivers are in flood
The day erased by darkness
Destination still in doubt
I pause beside the blacktop
And I watch the stars come out

Chorus 1
Speech it is a river, but silence is a road
Words are what I give her, but silence is our code
Caught between the day and night, the River and the Road

©1992 Blue Vignette Publishing, ASCAP