Beyond The Fence

Two flat tires on the Model T
Two birds fightin' for a worm
Faded squares like snowy TV screens
Where your photographs were hung
Keep Old Glory folded on a shelf
In a cabinet full of guns
Sell that engine block to someone else
Maybe they can make it run
How’d that calf get out beyond the fence?
How’d that hole get in your jeans?
Movie show was once but twenty cents
That mud there was once a stream
The moon is high, your nose is burnt
Your dog is gone.
Your mouth is dry, the milk is turned
But Barbara’s home.
Hand in hand you watch the sun go down
Colored lullabye of God
Barbara wears her mother’s old nightgown
Sleepin' with a nightlight on
White sheet blowin' on a short clothesline
New tree bendin' to the breeze
This clock’s beautiful but can’t keep time
What’s that scar on both your knees?
The moon is high, your nose is burned
Your dog is gone.
Your mouth is dry, the milk has turned
But Barbara’s home.