I don't keep much stuff around

I value my portability

but I will say that I have saved

every letter you ever wrote to me

the one you left on my windsheild

outside of that little motel

is in the pocket of my old gigbag

from back when life was more soft shelled



letters littered with little lewd pictures

drawn by the ghost of Woddy Guthrie

who would use your big thick hand

just to draw one two for me



and I think of your letters as love letters

which is how I think of songs

in that it is the writing of them

that tend to carry us along

and I dance to one of your old tunes

with my true love on our wedding day

and your voice sang the way my heart would sing

if it finally knew just what to say



two people pulled over on the same night

to look up at the same stars

they both found their wheels were spinning

in a soft shoulder

when they got back into their cars

and they missed fate's appointed rendezvous

and then a whole lotta time went by

and finally they were done

worshipping the landscape

and they put down their hands

and moved into the sky



and they had barely said hello

and it was time to say goodbye

goodbye ............