Poems from the Past: One Last Song

Eugene, OR, May, 1980

For a brief time, I had aspirations of becoming a songwriter.

The scenario for this piece is about an old cowboy mourning the death of his life-long friend.

Photo by Bailey Alexander on Unsplash

One Last Song

Hello again, my old friend.

I hope you don’t mind.

I brought my guitar

Some old memories

And my best bottle of cheap wine.

—

I know I must have been here

a thousand times before.

But, I always felt at peace each time,

I walked through your open door.

—

You always gave me shelter

When I had nowhere else to go.

A helping hand

When I was down

And feelin’ so low.

—

Times, they’ve been good,

And times have been bad.

But, every time,

You’ve been the best friend,

This poor boy’s ever had.

—

Heaven only knows,

The things we’ve seen and done.

Driftin’ around

From town to town,

All in the name of fun.

We never quite grew up,

Now I’m feelin’ so old.

Winter has come,

And the fire is burnin’ cold.

—

Times have been good,

And times have been bad.

But, every time,

You’ve been the best friend,

This poor boy’s ever had.

—

So, my friend,

between my tears,

I’ll sing this one last song.

You’re finally free,

And waiting for me,

I pray it won’t be long.

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