They did dress you up in ribbons and bows
carried you in swaddling clothes
along the rug outside your home
there, the Salmon river
Point me out the tea, the kettle
right along the rose, the nettle
very fine never been better,
here the Salmon river
They did dress you up in ribbons and bows
ferried you in your mother’s clothes
counting fingers, counting toes
out along the water
We all woke up to find you there
brandy eyes, corn husk hair
a picture of a woman so fair
They did dress you up in ribbons and bows
married you in fancy clothes
like a female calico
you blended in the nighttime
There we sat, cloth on the table
talking ‘bout no one was able
to imagine death a child’s fable
glaring in the moonlight
They did dress you up in ribbons and bows
buried you in Sunday clothes
no on knowing where to go
along the Salmon river

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