Small Town Boy

From the pen and perspective of Drake Gaetano

Bright red hair and loads of freckles

Always on the run

Something had to be done

It was the right time, the right place

For a small-town boy

But getting caught 

Now that was no fun

The slaps, the curses

The times I saw the nurses

And I was the only one 

But it was worth it 

For a small-town boy

The creeks, the pond of the mighty Wards, the playground 

Places to escape to 

But my favorite place was the woods 

To steal away on a rainy day

On a say day, a broken one 

But it was worth it 

For a freckled face fire-engine red haired small town boy

But there she was, always my angel, my nurse

She put her fears to rest as best she could 

But not mine 

Late one afternoon during a violent thunderstorm 

It was the lightening that pushed the terror deep into her soul

But she always came to my rescue with a heart of gold

She was never hugged or loved as a small-town girl 

But she hugged me and loved me

It was all worth it for a small-town country boy

Now that the hands of time are closer than ever

Their grip keeps getting stronger 

My mind goes back to the good old days when

Brotherly love was all that mattered

That from beyond his grave the love, the bravery,

The conquest of our purpose would go on forever in the eyes of our Heavenly Father

It seemed that love was not just another four-letter word

Once it appeared there was no letting go

The trees, the breeze, the playground, the creeks, the fields of wildflowers

The red rose bushes, the purple violets on the window sill, my visiting angel 

It seems now it was all worth it for a small-town boy

This place is what I call dreamland

Well, let me dream on 

I can’t go back there to my home again 

And things can never be the same

Somewhere beyond things coupled there lies a land

A resting place

And in a few more miles it will be mine

Some call it dreamland 

I call it home 

Lessons from a small-town country boy