One Small Well-Mannered Elegy

"hook 'em horns"

Oh Darlin'
Oh Darlin'
Would I knew how, dear, to forget
You are lost and gone forever and
I ain't done cryin' yet

I came to meet a Southern gentleman with
White socks, weak eyes, a necktie, and excellent manners
Gathering up the varied and precious bits of a waltz he used to know
He swept them very slowly with a gray broom
From nearly every corner of every room, all the while singing
"Peace like a river ran to sorrows like sea billows roll"

Every now and again he got to rocking with his eyes closed
On the ashes of the shadows of little dances,
Half-danced in shinier shoes
Very little like he'd hoped
And more bitter than sweet to lose

Oh Darlin'
Oh Darlin'
There's no gentle letting go
But we turn to face the evening when it's the only way we know

I took his arm to link with mine, saying
"Sure as any dance every once looked fine
My feet are steadier than they look and my eyes are blue
And I never much liked waltzes but I certainly like you
And I couldn't ever leave you, God knows, so
How 'bout we kick around these ashes and these shadows
Till we trace a new dance, tread it deep
With no shoes at all
On lighter feet"