Mary Mcbride

"Black-Eyed Strays"

Mary Mcbride


Each day she holds them boys
Drunks who live on the grain 
Rain starts slowly coming down 
Then pounds for six straight days

Walks with the birds
Day after day 
One flies in, one flies away
Can't hold onto those 
black-eyed strays
one flies in, one flies away

Dreams of days of dime a dance
Rolling plains with open skies
Home's a hundred miles away
Too lonely to cry

Walks on catwalks
Cast iron decay
Passes air shafts
A wandering black eyed stray

Nurse in white walks over rooftops
Linens wave in the breeze
Cross-eyed kid is hiding low
Sneakin' under the eaves