On that warm summer night
The tiny heart of the baby, she carried inside
She said, "I feel like a bird in a cage
Sweet Abilena looks out at the midwestern sky
And I said, "I’m gonna miss you"
We shared every secret, shared every dream
So anxious to grow in the new summer rain
Each night she kisses and rocks them to sleep
While she reads the letters, she makes me promise to write
Since we were tall as the corn in the spring
I stared at the patchwork over the fields
I stood beside her when September came
Were turning to snow on the Calico plains
Closer to thirty but farther away in her eyes
Watched her get married and caught the bouquet
I made her dreams mine
Then I made her promise to write
And like those hand me down dresses she gave me
From a seat by the window on wings made of steel
And bloom like a rose on the Calico plains
She holds her babies like she holds her dreams
Where young tears that once fell like warm summer rain
Come September I’m flying away"
How could she hear as we laughed
