----====* Miller's Farm *====----
They came to Miller's Farm at dawn,
With torches burning bright.
A dozen dark, and one was not,
A drunken, raving blight.
-=*=-
They burned the barn and killed the cow,
They shot the chickens dead.
"Come out!", they cried, "and meet your Fate!"
"We've come for Miller's head!"
-=*=-
My father held my mother close,
Then stepped outside the door.
But what he said we couldn't hear,
Beneath the rifles' roar.
-=*=-
They shot him down, just like a dog,
Until his blood ran red.
And cheered in drunken cries aloud,
They'd gotten Miller's head.
-=*=-
I took my rifle from the rack,
And pulled on Mama's shawl.
I stepped outside, where Daddy lay,
And threw down on them, all.
-=*=-
I shot the one who wasn't dark,
I killed him as he drew.
Because a name is all you have,
And I'm a Miller, too.
-=*=-
The dozen dark were silent,
As his body hit the ground.
I stood astride my father's corpse,
And looked them all around.
-=*=-
"You came to Miller's Farm tonight,
"To capture Miller's head.
"You found him in the light of dawn,
"And shot him good and dead.
-=*=-
"You've lost the one who isn't dark,
"And still you aren't quite through.
"So kill me now, or run away,
"'Cause I'm a Miller, too.
-=*=-
The dozen dark rode out, that night.
A silent, sober mob.
They left behind an awful crime,
They'd finished up their job.
-=*=-
But in the years since Daddy died,
I've honored Miller's name.
And taken down my rifle, nights,
To play their sort of game.
-=*=-
The dozen dark are down to one,
And him I'll get tonight.
I'll shoot him in the light of dawn,
As is a Miller's right.
-=*=-
I lay no claim to justice done,
No goodness shall I preach.
I've killed a dozen men, so far,
And one's within my reach.
-=*=-
But when I'm judged, at Heaven's Gate,
I know one thing is true.
St. Peter, there, may choose my fate,
But I'm a Miller...too.
----====*====----