Momma used to tell us
daddy went away
to a special place
that we couldn’t see.
Momma used to tell us
never go play
by the old burn barrel
and the Hanging Tree.
Daddy worked away
back in ’33.
Came home crying
to my mom and me.
Little sister was too young
to remember why we
put the old burn barrel
by the Hanging Tree.
We never knew money,
and we never knew peace.
Daddy hit the bottle,
but he never hit me.
Momma says he hit bottom,
but he sure looked free
swinging out in the yard
from an old oak tree.
I climbed up,
momma held his feet;
cut daddy down,
but we couldn’t complete
the hole in the ground,
we were just too weak,
so we rolled an old barrel
up next to the tree.
Lit a fire so hot,
that the barrel glowed red
and I took sis inside
just like momma said
and daddy went away,
but the smell hung low
and we never did learn
where daddy did go.
But Momma always told
my little sister and me
not to play by the river,
or play by the stream
and if you find some old bones,
then you best let them be,
by the old burn barrel
and the Hanging Tree.
HG -2016
