A sizable portion of my life was spent on the prairies of Western Canada. When I think of the thing I miss the most, besides my family of course, it’s the summer storms and the dramatic skies. But those powerful storms can be destructive too. They destroy crops, cars and homes and injure animals. This is a story of a road trip in early summer, driving along the edge of the foothills to visit a friend, who’s gone through a rough patch. It’s not a literal thing that happened to me, but more of a composite of memories of people, places and those relentless prairie storms.
Audio Only – Version 2
Prairie Storm
Copyright 2020 Steve Smith (SOCAN)
The long Alberta winter is over
But as they say, you never really know
As June arrives, and everything gets greener
The rocky peaks still blanketed in snow
She told me that she’d really like to see me
She told me she could really use a friend
I packed a bag of clothes and headed southbound
As she’s waiting for her broken wing to mend
The highway’s full of lonely hearts and wanderers
Kept apart by white and yellow lanes
Everyone is searching for some meaning
As the winter snows give way to summer rains
She told me that she’d really like to see me
She told me she could really use a friend
She told me that she had to fly away now
Just waiting for her broken wing to mend
Most prairie towns are slowly spinning downward
Just an inconvenient stop along the road
I think I’ll sit a while at the roadhouse
Sip coffee and translate the farmers code
I hear the storms are building in the northwest
Cut swaths like rolling steel through growing fields
Harsh words can weigh heavy on a young heart
Deep wounds below the surface, not yet healed
She told me that she’d really like to see me
She told me she could really use a friend
A fledging bird left damaged by a summer storm
Just waiting for her broken wing to mend