Iron & Wine's 'Boy With a Coin'

Because why should this be all about me?

Song lyrics and poetry are decidedly different things. More often than not, trying to turn a poem into a song is disastrous. But on occasion, there are songs that work brilliantly even when their lyrics aren't attached to any melody or beat. 'Boy With a Coin' by Iron & Wine is one of these, and it inspired the previous poem I posted here.

-----------------------------------------------

Boy with a coin
he found in the weeds
with bullets and pages
of trade magazines,
close to a car
that flipped on the turn,
when God left the ground
to circle the world.

Girl with a bird
she found in the snow
that flew up her gown,
and that's how she knows
that God made her eyes
for crying at birth,
and then left the ground
to circle the earth.

Boy with a coin
he crammed in his jeans,
then, making a wish,
he tossed in the sea
and walked to a town
that all of us burned
when God left the ground
to circle the world.