Have Some Mercy

Have some mercy!
(Mercy, mercy!)
Have some mercy!
(Let it start with me!)

Morning paper on the kitchen floor,
Another mother at a broken door.
I turn the page and I stir my tea—
Lord, when did that get easy for me?
Too much sorrow, so I turn it down,
Till I can’t hear my own heart sound.
Let that kettle whistle, let that morning birds sing,
Wake me up to the smallest thing.

Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy!)
On the weary and the worn.
Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy!)
On a world that’s sore and torn.
Let these hands unclench, let this heart make room,
Let a little something living bloom.
Have some mercy!
(Mercy, mercy!)
Let it start with me.

There’s a creek where we used to play,
Got a fence and a warning sign today.
There’s a bird on a blackened tree,
Still singing like there’s time for me.
We put a price on the water and wood,
Sold what we could, called the selling good.
Traded mercy for merchandise—
Now the things we love are paying the price.

Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy!)
On the weary and the worn.
Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy!)
On a world that’s sore and torn.
Let these hands unclench, let this heart make room,
Let a little something living bloom.
Have some mercy!
(Mercy, mercy!)
Let it start with me.

I kept your wrong like a bedside stone,
Carried that weight when I slept alone.
Had my speech all sharpened and saved,
Said it every night till the morning came.
I can name the hurt, I can lock my door,
I don’t have to feed that fire no more.
Set that stone by the old oak tree—
Took a breath that belonged to me.
Oh, I looked down deep into my soul—
Now I know what this love is for!

Mercy for the child I used to be,
Still afraid of disappointing me.
Mercy when the truth comes out,
When the proud voice shakes and it loses its shout.
We can mend what we can, we can answer for wrong,
Leave a chair for the one who’s been gone so long.
It’s good for you,
It’s good for me,
Mercy, mercy, set us free!

Can we tell the truth?
(And leave room to grow!)
Can we tend the wound?
(Let the kindness show!)
Can we open the door?
(Who’s it gonna be?)
Oh, let it start—
(Oh Lord, Let it start with me!)
Open the door and
Let the love flow!
It begins here.
It begins now.
Let the mercy flow—
Love is how.

Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy!)
On the weary and the worn.
Have some mercy!
(Have some mercy, mercy please!)
On a world that’s sore and torn.
Let these hands unclench, let this heart make room,
Let a little something living bloom.
Have some mercy!
(Mercy, mercy!)
Let it start with me.
There’s plenty of love,
so let it flow.
Mercy, mercy will show you how.

For the river!
(Have some mercy!)
For the stranger!
(Have some mercy!)
For the one I find so hard to love—
(Have some mercy!)
For the face in the mirror looking back at me—
(Mercy, mercy!)
Let it start with me.

Let it start with me.
Let it start with me.
Let it start with me.
Let it start with me.