Myrtledene and that old St. Rose Pike Silver Maple

by farris graybear, Sat.3/15/2014 A.D., Raceland, Greenup Co., KY

1. Carry me from Cartwright's station, on to Ben Spalding's for the night.
2. Calls that brick home Myrtledene, I suppose that name's alright.
3. It was a rough and bumpy ride down that curvy Saint Rose Pike.
4. And the buggy team's "rode hard and put away wet", if 'ya like.

5. Even after brother Thomas bled out on the Sunnyside steps,
6. John Hunt didn't torch the place, it's where he too slept.
7. Just beyond that old thrill hill, now cut through,
8. Stands that Silver Maple, scarred but holding true.

9. Carolina Son, General Thomas hid behind the old iron gate,
10. To Hell with Perryville, no death on Doctor's fork would be his fate!
11. Despite pleas for help, he relaxed in the Lebanon scene,
12. Now he's frozen in Bronze where he belongs, below Myrtledene

13. And the breeze still blows through the trees, and Silver maple too,
14. Tearing down that old rail grade on a fourwheeler, I still see you.
15. Mangled blue pick up with the one shoe still on the pedal.
16. Tangled memories of burning Lebanon, wrapped in metal.

17. And Derby one year, my two nephews were so young there.
18. Climbing on all fours over that old hoofprint on the stair.
19. Big cigars, fast horses, and bourbon liquor, ain't nothin' changed.
20. Mudbloods and Bluebloods, mostly slaves, only the date's rearranged.

21. Sad to see, incredibly, the rails have come and they have since gone.
22. No more getaway train for the Yanks to run to and escape on.
23. Despite the decay in the modern day, Spalding's manor watches,
24. And that ol' Maple grows bigger by the day, 'spite the trunk's notches.