Christmas Hearts
By: Cynical21
Bitter cold, it is.
The long grass, almost bone white
Under a coat a frost,
Crunches under my boots
And leaches away any bit a warmth
That’s managed a keep m’ toes from freezin’.
Snow clouds in the west, getting’ thicker,
Like piles of dirty wool,
Layers in shades a gray.
Reckon fools who sing about white Christmases
Are gonna get their wish.
Don’t matter none t’ me,
Since it’s just another day.
Ain’t mattered in a long, long time.
Guess my girls ‘ll be excited;
Hope their mama and her new man done right by ‘em.
I gave ‘em what I could
But it ain’t much.
Guess they’re prob’ly used to it by now.
Looks like there ain’t been much –
Much a anything at all -
Fer me t’ give ‘r git
In a long, long time.
Reckon it’s different down in Texas.
In that big house full a fancy things,
Run by his fancy woman,
Full a toys fer his rich boy son.
He ain’t never said it, a course,
But I know it jus’ the same.
Fancy trucks, new clothes,
New saddles and name-brand boots ‘n hats.
He don’t have t’ say it;
He lives in a different world.
Christmas - just another day –
When I’ll be strugglin’ t’ take care a the horses
An’ git m’ work done,
An’ make it back home
Afore the snow gits too deep,
Back t’ my sad little place,
Full a empty spaces and old memories,
Where I can drink m’ whiskey in peace
And close m’ eyes, in hopes a dreams.
And know . . .
That he’s prob’ly drinkin’ eggnog out a silver cups,
An’ turnin’ on the strings a lights on the outside a that fancy house,
An’ tryin’ a figger out how to put together the kid’s newest toy . . .
Until the day gets older an’ quieter,
An’ he finally has a chance t’ find a lonesome spot,
T’ sit and drink his whiskey in peace
An’ close his eyes, in hopes a dreams.
Poor or rich,
Wyomin’ or Texas,
Alone or in a crowd . . .
It’s still the two of us,
Breath t’ breath an’ heart t’ heart,
Today – and every other day.
FINI
