Love Poem: A Ballad For Marie
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Written by: Larry Bradfield

A Ballad For Marie

He roamed this raw land from mountain to sea,
Before the coming of barbed wire -
Longing for more than he found in the dust,
Much more than the muck and the mire.
She was standing in an open oak door
In the village of Santa Fe.
The look in her eyes spoke of dreams untold,
And love that the heart could not say.
He watched as she danced to music unheard
With a partner that was not there.
He fell in love in the dust of the street
With that girl who danced in the air.

He spoke to her father as was the way.
Then they rode in the star filled night.
She said,"I knew you'd come but not your name,
My eyes fill with tears as they might".
He sat straight in the saddle filled with pride
That this beauty could love just him.
They rode together up the canyon wall,
And gazed at their world from the rim.

Life was good and their love was strong, my friend,
The air was sweet, the mountains were high.
How could she know that he hired out his gun, 
And it would kill him by and by.
He joined to fight the Lincoln County war -
Both sides seemed right - he did not care.
As long as the pay was right he'd show up.
He hadn't planned on dying there.

He left his bride, took his talents to war,
And loaded his guns for the kill.
Other men recognized what he had been.
Then a shotgun cancelled his skill.
They did not send him home as a warrior -
He was thrown in a shallow grave.
No one spoke words or sang hymns at the site -
Nor spoke of the men who were brave.

She listened again to the music unheard-
Shed tears for the partner she'd lost.
She stood in sorrow in the dusty street -
No one had warned of love's cost.
She returned to the village of Santa Fe,
And stood in the open oak door.
Her name was Marie, and she knew inside
She would dance in the air no more.


6/12/2017