The Pila Song

The wind was hot and the sun was hard

I was beat and my mare was tired

And the fence line I was riding stretched forever

My mind drifted off and back

To Carmella and her heart of black

And the things that she'd said to me yesterday

So when the boss sent me out checking fences

I was glad cause I knew that it meant

That I could spend some time out all alone

I wiped the sweat that stung my eyes

Looked up and I realized

That I was coming up on the south windmill

The concrete tank stood there beside

The water trough that it supplied

When the trough was full the mill could keep on pumping & pumping & pumping

So we drank deep from the shallow trough

And wetting my hair gave me the thought

That a swim in that big tank might cool me down

So I shucked my duds and hung 'em on the fence

Climbed the wires to reach the rim

Pulled myself on up and jumped right in

The water was cool down underneath

But deeper than I thought it'd be

There was no ladder and the walls were slick with moss

Sure enough I got cooled down

When I found I had no way out

And the thought of a rat in a feed bin chilled my blood

Well, at first I laughed at the fix I was in

Then my troubles all sank in

Without some help I was there to stay

I screamed and clawed to no avail

Till dignity and voice had failed

I wore my fingers down on those damned walls

I marked the time with the windmill's shade

Passing cross my mossy grave

And the cows coming to water twice a day

I always figured lightning strike

Or rattlesnake or barroom fight

Would do me in, not some Mexican rose

The fact is I was hot and dumb

Struck stupid by the sun and love

So on the one hand I guess she'd played her part

Through all that time I cussed her lots

But I cussed myself the most because

I had not looked before I leapt

Now overhead an eagle soars

And I smell rain coming from the north

I wonder if she'll even shed one tear

Just one tear over me

Just one tear over me.