The Afternoon

How she loved
the dawn's golden colors
brushed on the tree-arched
vestibule
Alone, she'd go out dancin'
'cross the quilt of morning dew
Had a soul for risin' early
and a heart for leavin' soon
Oh how she loved the morning
so God took her in the afternoon

Her prayers spilled over
earth and water
kissed the snow fields
and climbed the hills,
cracked the mountains of Virginia,
touched the hem of Jesus' will
Yes sweet daybreak was a lover
but he could not heal her wound
Oh how she loved the morning
so God took her in the afternoon

Today the wind's a little colder
The sun drifts 'cross a pallid sky
and the land is full of shadows
cast by dark clouds passing by

In my dreams I see her laughing
In the mist she's still at play
so each morning I go lookin'
for the child who could not stay
Now she fills
the fallow green fields
with a memory-laced perfume
Oh how she loved the morning
so God took her in the afternoon