Hers To Stay

my first love, my high school sweet and shy girlfriend.

a feeling never felt before, I prayed it wouldn’t ever end.

the drive-in movies, the carnivals, we did them all in style,

I had no car, to see her, I walked more than a mile.

as years went by, after we wed, the arguments began.

I tried my best to calm the waves, but shattered was my plan.

now on the restless sea, tuna fishing in the hunting season.

I left her in Ohio, I had to leave, I had a single reason.

to see if absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they always say,

I don’t know who "they" are, but in my case it’s just a bad cliche.

months have passed and homeward bound, It’s hard to hide this feeling,

that hopefully she has missed me badly, and we can start the healing.

nowhere to be found, I read the note that felt sharp as a knife,

she wants divorce, she’s with someone, she’s starting a new life.

living in Montana, a rancher now her new found love,

I must not haste to find her, this pain I must now rise above.

what can I say when it’s all over?, give me another chance?

no, when it has died, it’s hard to wake a dead romance.

time has slowly passed, the years have been unkind,

lines upon my face, my fate could well be signed.

one thing I know is true, I had the best years of my life,

to know that once, I had a young and loving wife.

the story is not yet over, the search is not yet done,

someone may walk into my life, and claim me for the one,

the one who’s more than ready, to give my faithful heart,

to someone who will stay, when things may fall apart.

if by chance a new love will be made, in some old fashioned way,

she can count on me, count on the years I will be hers to stay.