While miles away
On the outskirts of town,
A man labors for his wages,
In the dark, dusty mines
Far beneath the ground.

He works hard, at a dangerous job,
To provide for his lovely wife.
To him, she is,
The very breath that gives him life.

The hours slowly pass by
As thoughts of her, are always on his mind.
A smile escapes,
Brightening his dust covered face,
As he pictures her there
Awaiting his return home.
He sees her there, waiting for him
In the baby blue rocker he gave her,
For their first anniversary.

As he walks up the steps
Of their front porch,
She smiles sweetly
And welcomes him home
Into her open arms.

She was only fifteen
When they exchanged vows.
She was a picture of beauty
In her Mothers' satin gown.

It's been twenty long years
Since he placed that ring upon
her finger.
Surrendering unto her
His undying love,
In a moment he will always remember.

Growing up in such a small town
Mining was the way of life.
As young girls, the women knew
That they, like their Mothers,
Were destined to become
A coal miners wife.

At an early age they learned,
The dangers the men faced
Each and every day,
For the sake of keeping food on the table,
And to have a warm bed at night
In which to lay.

They saw the grief stricken faces
Of the women, whose husbands
The Lord had called home.
They knew the meaning all too well,
Of what it meant to be alone.

She loved her husband
With all of her heart,
But loneliness preyed upon her
From the very start.

Five years or so after they married,
She couldn't bear staying home anymore.
She took a job as a checkout girl,
Down out the local General Store.

It was only a matter of time until,
A young lawyer walked into the store.
He was looking to get directions
To the cabin, left to him
By a relative some time ago.

The moment her eyes met his,
They instantly melted her heart.
It was from that moment on.
The little cabin and that young man
Became her refuge
From a lonely heart.

But she was always there,
Waiting on the porch by the door
When her husband was due back home.
And for twenty years, she would welcome him,
With open arms,
As the joy of seeing her
Through his weary, blue eyes shown.

But then came the day,
As everyone in town knew it would.
An explosion was heard in the distance
That put a hush over that little town.
And with an ashen face,
There in the doorway
Of their home she stood.

And in an instant,
The guilt consumed her,
It was more than she could take.
The love that she had taken for granted
Was gone,
She had lost,
Her dear husband, to a miners cruel fate.

She no longer went to the cabin,
To be with her lover of fifteen years.
Instead, she spent her days
In tears, alone,
In that baby blue rocker
Knowing that her Jake,
Would never again,
Be coming home.

She passed away, many years later,
At the age of seventy-four.
They say they found her,
With her arms open wide,
Her tears long gone,
In that baby blue rocker
By the door.