Ruination Day

And the great barge sank.
And the Okies fled.
And the great emancipater
took a bullet in the head.

in the head…
took a bullet in the back of the head.

It was not December.
Was not in May.
Was the 14th of April.
That is ruination day.

That’s the day…
The day that is ruination day.

— Gillian Welch, “Ruination Day Part 2

Lincoln assassinated, the Titanic hit the iceberg, Black Sunday on the Great Plains.

April 14th.