Save Our Souls
It was three in the morning and I had to get dressed
The radio had crackled out, another SOS
The fire flickered slowly, it was to cold to gain heat
So I pulled on my old boots and went out in the sleet
I jumped in my vehicle, it fired up sublime
I looked at my watch, it had frozen in time
My low fire behind me as I drove through the night
Inching and edging through the poorest of sight
I looked at the sky, huge white clouds, they did grow
Twisting and turning, dispensing more snow
I didn't want to admit it but I knew I was lost
Then I saw it on the floor, the top of a signpost
It jutted from the snow, buried seven foot deep
I cleared away the face, it said The village of Drepe
An arrow did point, towards the south east
I jumped back in my vehicle so full of relief
The weather atrocious, strong blizzard and snow
I checked the thermometer, it read 30 below
I never felt this cold in all of my years
Wishing I was home as I pushed through the gears
I thought of my bed and my kids and my wife
What would they do, if I lost my life
This hostile land in a hostile zone
The place that I loved, the place I called home
The trees on the hills were bending with weight
From the build up off snow, there was no escape
As the weather got colder, I thought this aint cool
No one would come up here, no one but a fool
As I turned the bend, I was stopped in my track
Away in the distance, I saw the light of a shack
Where there is light, there could also be life
So I pressed on relentless with vigour and drive
It was one of them nights, it made me feel old
Just up ahead, a tree blocked the road
All gnarled with its branches thrust into the air
I thought, it's all over, I began to despair
With my vehicle I pushed, with my vehicle I pulled
The old tree laughed back, said man your getting too old
I have guarded this road for one hundred years
The lightning took me, you think I have no tears
I will lay on my side, no one will pass through
The village of Drepe has been cut off to you
I looked up at the sky as night turned to day
Thinking to myself, there has to be a way
I grabbed on my shovel and I piled up the snow
To both sides of this tree and thought, you I will show
I built me a highway, I laboured non stop
Then jumped in my vehicle and drove over the top
In a clearing I saw it all covered in snow
People round camp fires with no where to go
people so hungry and people so old
Young children crying, comforted by old
I arrived at the village which was trapped in the glen
With plenty of food and warm blankets for them
I checked my thermometer, it read 30 below
Copyright © John Scott | Year Posted 2011
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