Prairie Funeral

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It was a funeral on the prairie, 
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all his children gathered round
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Put him in a horse drawn wagon, 
drove him into town
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In the dark of February snow 
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covered up the ground
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In a pioneer church made out of sod
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 we sang A Mighty Fortress Is Our 
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God

[Verse 2]
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He was born in 1898 when the 
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plains burned red and green
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To God fearing pilgrim parents, the 
twelfth kid of thirteen
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They broke up that ground yard by 
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yard with a mule and an oxen team
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Now we’re burying him out on the 
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lone prairie where the coyotes howl
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 and the wind blows free

[Verse 3]
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Back at the house we pushed that 
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big oak table against the wall
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Built a fire in the cast iron cook 
stove, made room for one and all
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The children and grandchildren 
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piled our snow boots in the hall
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The women worked like an oiled 
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machine; the coffee boiled and the 
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kettle screamed

[Verse 4]
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Then the old folks took to telling 
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tales of back when they were young
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And it weren't too long before that 
four string banjo began to strum
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Mom played the fiddle and my Uncle
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 Lars played his accordion
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The old farmers cried in their 
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flannel sleeves when we sang that 
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song from the old country

[Verse 5]
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That was long ago and as the years 
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go by I still forget he’s gone
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But I look out on the open plains 
and I know his soul lives on
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He’s the red sky mirrored on the 
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lake, he’s the first cold light of 
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dawn
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He’s a coyote’s wail, he’s a winter
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 storm, he’s the August wind 
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blowing through the corn