Almost All She Wrote

by Carl Clay Caulkins

Fare thee well, Oklahoma
Buick, take me west
    I’m blinded by the sun
    And just like Jesse
       when he was on the run
I’m unable to rest

Out here in the middle of nowhere
A phone booth is the only sign of life
    There it stands, alone in the snow
    So inviting
       Like the home fires burnin’ low
It’s enough to make a man
                                miss his wife

              ********

Mystery road
       Hands reach out on either side
Yes, this mystery road
       Is a long hard ride
Why tell me why
Don’t I have my darlin’
Sittin’ by my side

              ********

My eyelids are heavy
And it’s awful hard to hold up my head

    I’m lighter than air
    I haven’t a single care
All I need is supper and a bed

In my dreams, Nancy screams
And my heart leaps up into my throat
    The truck roars past me
                    an inch away

    I can hear the big tires whisper
                    the big tires they say

“Almost all she wrote”

              ********

Mystery road

      Hands reach out on either side

Yes, this mystery road

      Is a long hard ride

If it hadn’t been for foolish pride

I’d have my darlin’

Sittin’ by my side