soggy socks

a cowboy song
by chris fillebrown

the words you wrote
slid down your note
dripped off the edge of the page
they said dear john later on
cook your own steak and potatoes

i ran out in the misty morning
to try to catch your train
now my socks are soggy
from crying in the rain

breath on my front window
fogs the winter pain
i miss you and i love you
and I want you back again

we climbed into my pickup truck
under cover of the clouds
to find the things we both had lost
or never knew we’d found

we stretched and pulled and popped and poked
and sang and drank and laughed and smoked
when the night sky rolled away
we walked out into our new day

your catholic mask a plaster cast
of generations’ frowns
fell onto my trailer hitch
and scattered on the ground

the words you spoke
slid down your nose
dripped off the edge of your face
they said god has forsaken me
god is in a rage

my head sleeps in my pillow
my pillow is a cloud
my heart aches and my eyes weep
the thunder claps out loud

dreams of fights and making love
through misty clouds of tears
our time together our love forever
the sky knows all the years

i ran out in the misty morning
and tried to stop your train
now my socks are soggy
from crying in the rain

our love became a cast iron pan
that chicken fried my brain
now the skillet crusting gravy
lies rusting on the range