Sunday Scribblings: Much Too Young, To Feel This Damn Old.....

I'll never be a rancher's wife; it's a life I'll never know
But, it has been a dream of mine, since oh so long ago.
I always figured I meet someone, somewhere along the way
While I was learning' to make a hand, ridin' horses for my pay.

I wasn't expectin no fireworks, no knight in shinin armor to sweep me off my feet
Just someone honest, polite and kind, was the type I wanted to meet.
Oh, I figured he'd be a little ornery, with a twinkle in his eye.
But if we ever said 'I do.' We'd 'Do' till the day we died.

Now I was workin on all the attributes I thought a rancher's wife should possess.
Startin colts, building fence and lookin good in high heels and a dress
Stretchin pennies into dollars, getting up early to do the chores
And when there was an extra mouth to feed, makin room at the table for just one more

Playin midwife to mares and heifers, doctorin colts and calves.
And thankin God at the end of the day for all the things I have
Like the majestic beauty of sunrises in the morning, and the clean, crisp smell and feel of fall
The wonder of life in a newborn calf and miles of wide-open prairie spaces were some of my favorite things of all.

But then I turned 37 and decided no one was coming down the ranch's mile long drive a looking for a wife.
So I live in town, have a job - now I breathe the smog and put up with the constant strife
Of houses settin too close together, and apartment livin is even worse
With walls so thin between you that you hear your neighbor's curse

Now my days are filled with drivin in rush hour traffic, fightin crowds and honkin horns.
Workin in small confining space, sometimes gazing out the window lookin wistful and forlorn

Cause, I still think about the way my life use to be and what it has now become
Remembering what I left behind and the dreams I dreamt when I was young.
Dreams of cattle grazin on a hillside on a place we would call home
And all the puppies, ponies and pickups that we would surely own

I guess everything in life is a trade off, cause I'm finally able to put money in the bank.
But since I stopped workin the ranch I've gained 50 pounds and there is a noticeable swellin through my flanks.

I still use my black iron skillets and cook enough to feed a brandin crew
But I sometime get to wonderin, would I have takin a chance if I'd only knew, how much pain that cowboy's caused since he said we're thru

How much of my heart I'd leave in pieces scattered out upon the Oklahoma plains,
in the yelp of the coyote, or that it would cause me so much pain
to watch the sun come up between tall buildings instead of from some horse's back
and as the years now stretch before me it becomes more and more a fact - that I'll never be a rancher's wife it's a life I'll never know.