Blue smoke across the stubble fields
River running slow
Charlie watched the moon rise
Fat and pale an hour or so ago
He heard the distant call of geese
In the faintly glowing west
Circling low and falling fast
In the distant fields to rest
He pitched his cigarette past the front porch rail
Watched it glowing in the dark
The night wind rose and stirred the gra**
Fanned the glowing spark
It flared and caught the porch boards
Tinder dry from drought
He watched it grow and made no move
To try and put it out
Some shiny new guy down at the bank
With a loud and booming voice
He shuffled papers looked away
Said ‘sir we have no choice'
Charlie tried to reason with them
It's like they never heard
He had no more to offer them
He only had his word
The wind increased, the flames blew up
The porch grew black and charred
He rose at length, picked up his gun
Walked out in the yard
Where his truck was parked
All piled with boxes, furniture and such
Twenty hears of pain and heartache
Don't amount to much
No idea where to go
No way for him stay
He turned the key, let out the clutch
Slowly drove away
In the rearview mirror
He watched the flames roar up the wall
Sparks exploded skyward
As he watched the front porch fall
He pulled out on the highway
In the distance saw the lights
Hear the high and keening wail
Of sirens in the night
He pulled a cigarette from his pocket
Hit the lighter in the dash
Carefully thought of nothing
As the fire trucks went pa**ed
He lies quiet in a motel room
His hands behind his head
He keeps his mind a perfect blank
While lying on the bed
The timbers and the chimney rise up
Blackened ruined and charred
To mark the spot where Charlie loved too long
And way too hard