Onion Eyes from Onion Eyes by Gar Clemens

He went quietly on a Sunday night
between the dim lamp light and the howl outside
the window frame with a rattling hinge
who spoke back and forth like a pendulum click
with the clock on the table outside the door
who told him he didn't have time no more.
All day his heart was gnawing on his mind
The echo in his skull sounded something like "goodbye"

So quietly he went on that quivering night
He drew a nice warm bath and a bottle of wine
Every time he placed the bottle to his warm lips
The strength left more from his white knuckled fist
And it didn't come at all from the wrong he done
It came from his Evelyn's long lost love
It didn't seem right, he wasn't known to cry
But she wasn't there to dry his onion eyes

Before the red blood flooded from his blue veins
And the memories flickered all around his brain
He said, "they'll never ever see the likes of me again"
The way his heart had been gnawing at his head for years
He had to hide himself away so he could hide the tears
The folks he knew got the shock and surprise
'cuz they weren't around to dry his onion eyes
And the went quietly on a Sunday night.

• Folk
• Ryan Adams
• ben nichols
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• Greensboro