The Ballad of Margaret Rose
for reasons strange to me;
some run toward what’s better,
and some just have to flee.
Margaret Rose left her home
because her story went unhailed;
though she told it many times
it’s the gossip that prevailed.
There wasn’t much love; boys ran the show;
girls and their dreams had nowhere to grow.
On the day of the date she drove into a ditch;
her face hit the steering wheel, her lip needed stitches.
She determined to go out, painkillers on hand,
to be with the
dream boy, injuries be damned.she passed out in the car and without her cognition
that man took from her what she would have given.
The engine sputtered at a hill in old Whitehorse town,
so she shifted into neutral and coasted the two miles down.
But they were far away and she loved all that she could see.
She had no home, no friends, no lovers, but found a job at KFC.
but Margaret Rose wasn’t blue,
she had too much work and preparing to do.
He and Margaret Rose built a log house with muscle and sweat
that was soon filled with anger and too much regret.
Margaret Rose worked hard after her marriage died,
Night shifts as janitor helped her provide.She cleaned the train station, a restaurant, and the disco bar,
her three children helped clean ashtrays and more.
She had many boyfriends, but none of them lasted,
She strived to get rich but instead got shafted.
I made my coffee bitter just the way I liked
before I shovelled the snow sent down in the night .
Joe played the fiddle, and Merv strummed the strings
And I, keeping time to the music, felt my heart had wings.