Jack Russell

I made my way to a little town
To stay two weeks in a little house
Down at the mouth of the river called Tongue
Where it empties out from the mountains

I came with eyes open wide
And a box of words I couldn't rhyme
I hoped to leave with an open mind
And a box of songs for the hard times

I asked some folks where the stories hide
They pointed me to the mountainside
There's a man over there by the mouth of the river
And I heard a bear ate his side view mirror

Another claimed at a funeral
He told the grieving widow
No one should have to sleep alone
I've got a warm bed and pillow

There's a man named Jack Russell
Yes really Jack Russell
He lives at the end of the road
Where the stars in the sky
And the flowers of springtime
And the rain on your face
Each rising day
In a blaze of glory unfolds

I forgot about Jack for a few days
Sitting on the couch in my own big brain
Bragging 'bout the beauty of the Big Horn slope
To my propane stove and my window

And then perhaps by happenstance
I walked outside in my underpants
I only ever wanted just to take a leek
But the stars above reminded me

There's a man named Jack Russell
Yes really Jack Russell
He lives at the end of the road
Where the stars in the sky
And the flowers of springtime
And the rain on your face
Each rising day
In a blaze of glory unfolds

So I went out looking for his Japanese car
In a town of Chevys and Dodges and Fords
I only had to walk a small town block
Before it stuck out like a thumb in a parking lot

So it was I met the mountain man
85-years-old with a steady hand
He took me out right then and there
And read me his obituary

And it said
Don't shed a tear it's not the end of my story
I'll be here in a blaze of glory
Where the stars in the sky
And the flowers of springtime
And the rain on your face
Each rising day
In a blaze of glory unfolds