Wisconsin

There’s the town
Guess it’s better seen in early light of morning
Looks run down
Father wrote that it’s been loosing since the new highway went through
Here’s the place
Where I was born and raised with seven at the table
Looks so small
Wonder how this farm can raise a family comfortably at all
And I want to show you fields I raked and gathered as I grew
And I wanted you to see the old Wisconsin that I knew
Other days
Might see deer in open fields beside the cattle
Unafraid
Until Chicago rifles taught them all to keep inside the wood
Mind the door
Many years since this old barn has felt a hammer
Many more
Since I’ve heard the sound the wind makes fifty feet above the floor
It’s the sound that sets you dreamin’ if it’s dreamin’ that you do
And I wanted you to see the old Wisconsin that I knew
October brought the winter snows from Canada
We pass away the time until the Spring
April brought the good smell of the earth again
Too many years ago it seemed
Is it late?
In remembering I’ve forgotten of the hour
Come away
Watch the sun die in the pine tree watch the moon rise in the lake
It’s the land that sets you dreamin’ if it’s dreamin’ that you do
And I wanted you to see the old Wisconsin that I knew