It's knowing that your door is always open

"Gentle on my mind"

It's knowing
That your door
Is always open
And your path
Is free to walk

That makes me
Tend to leave
My sleeping bag
Rolled up
And stashed
Behind your couch

And it's knowing
I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains
That have dried
Upon some line
That keeps you
In the back roads
By the rivers
Of my memory
That keeps you
Ever gentle
On my mind

It's not clinging
To the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns
Now that bind me
Or something that
Somebody said
Because
They thought
We fit together walking
It's just knowing
That the world
Will not be cursing
Or forgiving
When I walk
Along some railroad track
And find
That you're movin'
On the back roads
By the rivers
Of my memory

And for hours
You're just gentle
On my mind

Though the wheat fields
And the clothes lines
And the junkyards
And the highways
Come between us
And some other
Woman's crying
To her mother
'Cause she turned
And I was gone
I still might
Run in silence
Tears of joy
Might stain my face
And the summer sun
Might burn me
Till I'm blind
But not to where
I cannot see
You walking
On the back roads
By the rivers
Flowing gentle
On my mind

I dip my cup of soup
Back from a gurgling
Crackling cauldron
In some train yard

My beard
A rustling coal pile
And a dirty hat
Pulled low
Across my face

Through cupped hands
'Round a tin can
I pretend to hold you
To my breast and find
That you're waitin'
From the back roads
By the rivers
Of my memory
Ever smiling,
Ever gentle
On my mind

John Hartford

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