It Gets Lonely in a Small Town Greg Brown

Young woman with a child
Living all alone
On a hot night in the summer
With the television on
"Goodnight Mama"
Says the child
From a crib by the tv
And the woman washes two plates and cups
'til they are way past clean
And the blue flares of the tv screen-
Heat lightening, inside and out
Oh, it gets lonely in a small town
When midnight, rolls around

An old woman at her sewing
By a rusty oil stove
The snow has covered everything
The years have covered love
Oh, they buried him two years ago
In six feet of black dirt
She lives in just one room now-
She's still mending his shirts
And the white flares of the memories-
Moonlight, inside and out
Oh, it gets lonely, in a small town
When midnight, rolls around