The Pecan Tree

In a tiny town in Texas, a soldier and his wife
Sat beneath a tree of pecans, talked about their future life.
What the tree heard touched her deeply, deeply down inside her heart,
Learning soon this young couple would sadly have to part.

She drove him to the airport and watched his plane fly away.
Then she wept beneath the pecan on this endless autumn day.
His letters from the battlefield she read beneath the tree.
When the fruit is on the ground again he'll be coming back to me.

She waited by the window in a long white flannel gown,
Watched the dancing snowflakes gently fall upon the ground.
The tree outside the window cold wind bending her naked boughs
Both were waiting for the springtime and new life to arouse.

She waited in the garden, planting tiny seeds.
The robin and the sparrow sang to fill her empty need.
The tree in chartreuse budlings listened to the song.
She wanted this to swiftly pass, the tree this time prolong.

She waited in the summertime turning golden from the sun,
Thinking of her certain someone and things together they had done.
The tree in emerald splendor nursed its scion
As it's jaded foliage cast long shadows in the sun.

She waited in the evening beneath the harvest moon,
Her happy knowing he'd surely be home soon.
The tree bent low in heavy fruit ready soon to fall
Sighed, anticipating when again it would stand tall.

She waited softly humming. Then there came the tragic news
Of a firefight near the ocean, her lover's life did lose.
In the garden, almost midnight twinkling stars shone above,
The tree wept her pecans with the maiden's lament love.

Despair gripped the garden. It was a maddening sight to see.
In the moonlight, teardrops glistening she chopped down the pecan tree.
When they found her in the morning upon the tree she lay her head.
The tree and the maiden, still and cold in crimson red.