The Stranger

Stranger, I know where you'll find her
Down the road from here, about a mile and a quarter
You'll know the place by a shackey barn
That stands in the field by a run-down farm
By a pond, filled up with stagnant water

Then you'll see a shack nearby, you'll ask yourself
I wonder why it looks so cold, and lifeless all around
Chimney rocks are fallin' out, it looks as though
The fire's gone out and the biggest part
Of the house is rotted down

Though stranger, I ain't seen her lately
She don't come around here like she used to
You've got her pictured in your mind
Pretty, gentle, sweet, and kind
You've practiced every word you're gonna say

You'll call her name, but she won't hear you
She's in the graveyard near you
She died ten years ago, last May

There was a man she talked about
A man she had to live without
Years ago, he just turned and left one day
He left her with an unborn child
And her love for him that never died
And an aching heart that sent her to an early grave

Yes, stranger, I know who you are
I recognized you from afar
But you ain't never seen me, not one time
Yes, I know that you're my dad
From pictures that my momma had
And it was me and momma that you left behind

Stranger, you will find her there
In a peaceful sleep on yonder hill
Where we once walked, as I do still
To pick her flowers from the field

Mama don't need you anymore
And I don't need you like before
You can go on back to where you went before
You're just a stranger