Letters

(Tom T. Hall)



One night in the West Virginia mountains

I got stranded in the deepening snow

I found important house and took a small room

No TV, magazines or radio.



I've stood and watched the snow fall past the window

And as a traveling man would sometimes do

I've picked up the Bible and looked through it

I found the stock of letters tied in blue.



The letters had been left there by a young girl

There were ten and as I read the first

I found that they were from a boy in Detroit

Who'd sent for her as soon as he got work.



The first one mentioned her expected baby

The one and two and three were much the same

The fourth and fifth said that he might send to get her

The sixth and seventh offered her his name.



The eighth and nineth were weeks apart in postmark

They were short and asked about her health

The tenth one was a tear staine on the pages

Said that he had married someone else.



Next morning I felt guilty when I checked out

As the highway people cleared away the snow

I asked about the girl who used to live there

They said she passed away three weeks ago.



Well, I kept the letters but I never read them

Oh, but somewhere up in Detroit there's a man

Who heard what happened down in West Virginia

And we're the only two who understand...