North Dakota

Been snowin' all day when I got home The fire was out, the cabin was cold And I poured some stale coffee from the pot The longer I waited, the snow got higher So I split some wood and built a fire She told me she'd be gone, I forgot I'd seen it snow that hard before I couldn't see the cabin from the stable door And that mare she always rode, was in the stall The law couldn't come till the weather broke My heart was poundin' in my throat And I searched and called her name till it was raw I never should have brought her here Livin' is hard this time of the year Tryin' to keep food and fire till winter's done Sometimes she gazed across the plains with a look that I couldn't name And I'd wonder if she stay till springtime comes I found her on the first warm day The rain had washed the snow away She'd gone for wood and lost her way back home And I ain't the kind believes in ghosts but some nights I get pretty close When the North Dakota winter moans When the North Dakota winter moans