The Promise

They stopped the clocks at nine-oh-eight And covered up the mirrors Turned his pictures to the wall And placed the bible a little nearer They closed the curtains; turned out the lights But kept the candles burning His best friend, the dog, let out a sigh And in circles he kept turning She laid out a suit that he seldom wore And hung up his overalls Sat in the kitchen, near the phone Getting ready to make the calls A tear escaped from his widow’s eye Though she promised not to cry The only request made in sixty years She said that she would try The Parson said a prayer or two Then started his way home The doctor left some pills with her Before leaving her alone He lay in the bed the two had shared Ever since their wedding night For God to take her man first Just didn’t feel all right The children arrived by the end of the week Grandkids played out in the yard Saying goodbye to the stern old man Shouldn’t have been this very hard The clocks still show nine-oh-eight Though five years have come and gone The dog has passed, the bible is put away Overalls still hang where they were hung She sleeps each night in the rocking chair Refusing to climb into the bed Trying to keep the promise she made But every night a tear is shed