Born At 5:00

Born at five, bright blue eyes Mother beamed, father cried His first words came from a song mom sang Big sis wished it'd had been her first name And he took his first steps, learned to live upright He sat through school, but he ran through the night And at thirteen kissed a girl, but she didn't kiss back Name misspelled on the diploma Paycheck, road trip, Arizona His first love wore her hair full of curls They called it quits, but he found another girl And everyone stared as she walked down the aisle Kids got daddy's eyes and they stole mamma's smile And for a while there, everything was goddamn peachy clean Until he cheated death at 35 Asleep at the wheel swerved just in time His heart grew cold, and he lost touch The job was boring and the marriage was rough Then he saw a drop of blood roll down his son's face He was standing in a robe, he was teaching him to shave And he snapped out of it till he learned how to love again But a stroke got dad, and they buried mom once the cancer grew too strong A lullaby from sister's lungs, fIrst tear in dad's eye since the birth of his son So he took a year off to get back on his feet He didn't do much, took a trip to the beach Where he slept on the sand, had a dream that the girl kissed back Now at home, daily grind Birthdays, holidays, peace of mind He lost his hair, found his laugh Composed a will and his epitaph There was nothing too special about the way he lived life Was about average build and about average height Sometimes he did things wrong, other times did things right Porch out front and a yard out back The quiet life and the cul de sac Kids in school, gowns and ties More little babies with bright blue eyes So he cashed in his chips and he moved to the hills But he didn't eat right and he didn't take his pills And a five o'clock one day, the soft blue eyes grew still