Unwed Fathers

In an Appalachian Greyhound station
She sits there waiting in a family way
“Goodbye brother, tell Mom I love her
Tell all the others I’ll write someday”
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
And unwed fathers, can’t be bothered
They run like water in a mountain stream
In a cold and gray town
The nurse says lay down
This ain’t no playground
And you ain’t home
Someone’s children are having children
In a cold gray building, all alone
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
And a teenage father, can’t be bothered
They run like water in a mountain stream

On a somewhere-else-bound midnight Greyhound
She hangs her head down and hums a lullaby
Scared half crazy, she holds her baby
She says, “I think, maybe you got your daddy’s eyes”
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
And unwed fathers, can’t be bothered
They run like water in a mountain stream