Morning

John: vocal & piano
Bobby Read: soprano saxophone

She opens her eyes and the world tumbles in
The morning still stirring the curtain
From deep in her pillow a new day begins
She smiles at the wonder uncertain

The smells of the kitchen seep into her bed
She knows he is up and about
Oh, soon there’ll be strawberries, butter, and bread
And coffee brewed inky and stout

She fingers the absence of him at her side
Longs for the touch of his skin
After 35 years she still feels a bride
Then the door yawns and bids him come in

He still wears his work like a burden of duty
And rises each day with the dawn
His large, tattered hands are things of rough beauty
She would watch from the porch ‘til he’d gone

A man newly idled, so set in his ways
With nothing he knew from before
Fumbles about vainly filling his days
With meaning and menial chores

He grins at her crookedly, “Now my life’s mine”
As he sets down the coffee and bread
She looks at the face she has loved for all time
And says smiling, “Just come back to bed.”

June 6, 2012
Nashville, TN
©2012 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP)