
I don’t know your names... not all of you.
I never met your daughters, your sons, your sisters...
But I wish to God I had.
And I’m sorry.
I’m so goddamn sorry...
That the world let you down.
Sorry that the river rose,
and the warnings didn’t rise with it.
They stayed silent…
while the water screamed.
Sorry your baby’s last moment
was fear and not peace.
No parent should bury their child.
No mama should get a call that her little girl’s shoes
were found ten miles downriver.
No daddy should have to stand at a casket that small.
I didn’t cause this storm…
but I still feel the weight.
Because I’m a father.
Because I know grief.
Because I know what it means to scream at the sky and get no answer.
So if this song finds you,
know this ain’t just art.
It’s an offering.
It’s a prayer.
It’s my soul cryin’ with yours.
And if I could trade places with just one of those angels?
I would… in a heartbeat.
Because kids ain’t supposed to die.
And the rest of us…
We’re just here tryin’ to make sure the world don’t forget ’em.
Not today.
Not ever.
Names must be spoken… or they’ll echo in the river for eternity
Anna Margaret… Linnie… Mary Kathryn… Renee… Janie… Blair… Brooke…
Mary Grace… Hanna… Rebecca… Lila… Eloise… Hadley… Sarah…
Chloe… Richard… Jan… Julian… Tanya…
They were light—before the water stole ’em
If you lived through that night
you ain't cursed
You're chosen
Mary Grace Baker, eight, pink ribbons in her curls
Artist’s heart, holy laugh—danced like summer swirls
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, eight—twins from Dallas home
Chef dreams, teacher hopes, now carved in river stone
Anna Margaret Bellows, Linnie McCown—eight, nine
Renee Smajstrla and Janie Hunt—nine, held hands in line
Sarah Marsh, Eloise Peck, Lila Bonner, Hadley Hanna
Cabinmates on the banks, now embers in the fauna
They weren’t stats on pages or numbers in a list
They were fingerprints, laughter, flickers that we miss
A campground of angels, cut from the mist
The river don’t care—just swallows all we kissed
River took angels, names we hold tight
Anna Margaret, Linnie, Mary Kathryn in the night
Mary Grace, twins, Renee, Janie, shining bright
Sarah, Eloise, Lila, Hadley—lost in the fight
River took angels, too many lights
Blair and Brooke Harber—thirteen and eleven, on vacation’s spark
Found clutching hands in water’s final dark
Mary Kathryn Jacobe, another missing mark
Lost in May’s memory, now a river’s cold remark
Counselor Chloe Childress, eighteen—poured guidance, gave grace
Graduated soul setter, now gone from her place
And Janie Hunt—nine, family ties far-stretched in space
Light of the Hunt legacy, gone without a trace
Richard Eastland—camp director, last line
Gave breath, gave fight—now past the divine
Jan Ragsdale—another guide, heart’s camp design
Took final step—when water redrew the sign
Julian Ryan—twenty-seven, died saving kin
Tanya Burwick—sixty-two, everyday hero in sin
They stood in the chaos, facing death’s grin
Gave crowns to the kids, took hell on their skin
This wasn’t a war—they were just breathing air
No rebel flag, no fight—but God’s wrath found them there
We’ll build statues, but grief ain’t square
Tiny hands are gone, understand that our hearts tear
River took angels, twenty-seven souls cry
Blair and Brooke, Anna, Linnie—reachin’ for sky
Mary Grace, twins, Janie, Renee—beloved sigh
Sarah, Eloise, Lila, Hadley—left to ask why
Chloe, Richard, Jan—gave everything they got, oh my
To the ones who lived
I’m sorry you had to see your sisters swept away
Hear screams cut short by the flood that day
You ain't weak, baby girl, you're strong as hell
You survived a story too hard to tell
I know you wake up from dreams that ain't fair
See empty beds and soaking hair
You carry ghosts no child should bear
But you ain't broken, you’re rare
If you cried out and no one came
If you held her hand and still feel shame
Let me say this in God’s name
You are not to blame
You’re the candle still burnin’ in a drowned-out song
Proof that even hell can’t hold on long
So cry when you need, rage if it's true
This world don’t deserve angels like you
So hug your babies, say “I love you more”
Life ain’t promised, it might end at your door
We write songs, we build homes, we break down fear’s core
They were our angels, their names end war
River took angels… but their names ride our core
Country Lunatic™
Lunatic Nation™
F.O.W.B Independent Records™
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