AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER

© 2013 Richard Edward Butler

1st Verse:

At the Old Folks Home, one damp day in Spring,

My father said, “Son, it’s a curious thing,

There’s this garden they’ve planted just outside my room,

And darned if the flowers aren’t always in bloom,

And the drainage ‘round here is remarkably good,

It rains every day, yet there’s never a flood,

And it’s been that way for as long as I can remember.

CHORUS:

Then he said that, “You just missed your Mother, 

She went to the store for some smokes,

I tell her that someday they’ll kill her,

But you just can’t talk sense to some folks.”

I reckon it’s best not to mention, we buried her two years ago,

There’s a price that we pay for our memories, 

And some things it’s best to let go.

2nd Verse:

I drove back to Dayton again in the Fall,

To visit my Dad in that home by the mall,

He told me, “The trees are peculiar ‘round here,

They hold on to their leaves throughout the whole year,

And the colors are crazy, red, yellow & gold,

I tell you, it’s truly a sight to behold.

And it’s been that way for as long as I can remember.”

CHORUS:

He said that, “You just missed your Mother, 

She went to the store for some smokes,

I tell her that someday they’ll kill her,

But you just can’t talk sense to some folks.”

I reckon it’s best not to mention, we buried her two years ago,

There’s a price that we pay for our memories, 

And some things it’s best not to know.

3rd Verse:

The next time I saw him, twas on Christmas Eve,

He told me, “There’s things here you wouldn’t believe,”

Ever since I moved in, there’s been snow on the ground,

And folks leave their Christmas lights up the year ‘round,”

Then giving a nod to the mall parking lot, 

He said “Business is good, they fill darn near each slot,

And it’s been that way for as long as I can remember.”

CHORUS

4th Verse:

A couple weeks later, I got the bad news, 

He’d taken a turn, there was no time to lose,

I hopped in my car and I headed back East, 

Hoping to see him one last time, at least.

I drove thru the night, & then long about dawn, 

I got the phone call to say he was gone.

I eased off the gas, put it on cruise control, 

And pondered the life of that dear, gentle soul,

Who had been that way for as long as I can remember.

Coda:

And someday, when my gray matter’s all shot to Hell,

I hope I can roll with the punches as well,

As my old man did when his flame was only an ember,

And I’ll sing this song, for as long as I can remember.