Small Winter Moments

 Back road on an early winter day

A young man stands, just the road in his way

A wool cap on, a guitar on his back

Just a city kid - he would tell it like that

It was a lonely stretch of road in rural New York

It spoke another language - it whispered soft and low

An old man in a rusted Chevrolet

The young man asks “Are you going my way?”

Radio’s on, a cat on his back

“Just going to town and I’m turning right back.”

Just small winter moments of quiet surprise

He’d write in his notebook about the man, the cat, and ride

Big world out there - he never saw it so close

Dirty and dusty - faces he’d never known

Wide open spaces, shooting stars at night

Burned-out places, cold in the wintertime

Northbound on a secondary road

The young man watches the field filled with crows

He’s got his thumb in the air, he waits for a ride

He’s cold and hungry, feeling empty on the inside

He’s small today against a big blue sky

It’s a shivering feeling watching cars go by

High school girls in a white Olds sedan

They giggle and chatter as they pick up the young man

Not much to say, they all smile a lot

They speed down the road and they drop him at a new spot

Something about them caught him by surprise

Not a fear in sight, just wide opened eyes

Big world out there - he never saw it so close

Dirty and dusty - faces he’d never known

Wide open spaces, shooting stars at night

Burned-out places, cold in the wintertime

Dust falls fast on December afternoons

There’s miles behind him - a big crescent moon 

He’ll sleep tonight in a friend’s warm bed

Pictures of the roadside dance in his head

He was small today against a big blue sky

He’ll be bigger tomorrow

Big world out there - he never saw it so close

Dirty and dusty - faces he’d never known

Wide open spaces, shooting stars at night

Burned-out places, cold in the wintertime