Nancy The Hitchiking Nurse
copyright (c) 2002 by Londis carpenter--all rights reserved
There's a bad stretch of road on Route Sixty-Six,
That I've often heard truck drivers say,
Is silent and bare, with a chill in the air,
Where travelers have oft' lost their way.
And the birds never fly in its overcast sky--
The air always seems strangly still.
The dogs never bark and the moon casts a strange
Eerie shadow across the mill.
Most truckers avoid accepting a load that
Would cause them to pass through or near.
But I've never believed and refuse now to heed
Tales of superstition and fear.
Back in October of seventy-three came
An offer I couldn't decline.
For a truckload of brew would be soon overdue--
If no driver was found who would sign.
Having hard luck for cash, I took the dispatch,
With no reason in my mind to fear.
I'd carry the load past that bad stretch of road
And folks there would all have their beer.
With my cargo all sound I was soon out of town,
On the road that led to the mill.
I felt happy and free--I'd received half my fee'--
I left bad luck behind on the hill.
Then a lightning bolt flashed with a thunderous crash
And the sky turned a strange colored hue.
The clouds poured out rain in a world gone insane
And a chill froze my flesh through and through.
I drove through the storm feeling sad and forlorn,
Then I rounded a hazardous curve,
Where I got a surprise, as a sight caught my eyes,
That caused me to veer and to swerve.
At the edge of the road stood a lady in white,
With her thumb out to ask for a ride.
I hit the brakes hard and I slid to a stop.
The girl eagerly climbed up inside.
I popped her a beer and the lady began
To talk, as she sipped at her brew.
From the words that she spoke, it was clear she was broke
And had missed more meals than a few.
So I took her to dine a little past nine
At a cafe we passed on the road.
I watched as she ate all the food on her plate.
Then she smiled, as her story she told.
She sought a new life to escape all the strife
Of a past she could barely endure.
She'd left all to be free from her past misery,
Taking naught but the clothing she wore.
She told of her schemes to build on her dreams--
To someday be a nurse wearing white.
She was nobody's fool--she could breeze through the school--
And she'd work as a waitress at night.
When I got up to go she told me goodbye--
Said, "I know there's a place here for me."
She thanked me and smiled as she told me her name,
"Just call me Nurse Nancy," said she.
So I paid off my tab and got into my cab feeling
Glad to be back on the road.
I soon reached the mill and delivered the ale.
I was proud to be rid of that load.
The storm had now eased to a mild autumn breeze
So I turned back the same way I came.
I hummed an old song as I rambled along--
And I wondered Nurse Nancy's real name.
I reached the cafe at the break of the day,
So I pulled in for coffee and eggs.
When a waitress came by I said, "Tell Nancy hi!"
And her hot coffee scalded my legs.
I had startled her so she had let the pot go
And the glass shattered over the floor.
The poor waitress said, "You dishonor the dead
Making such jokes inside of this door."
I was sorely confused, feeling some sort of ruse
Had made me the butt of a scam.
But the glances and leers and the waitress's tears
Gave me cause to ask her to explain.
I could see her surprise by the look in her eyes
That a trucker like me hadn't heard
Of a girl who'd been slain, named Nancy McClain,
Who'd been dead now for nearly ten years.
A man had came in from out of the rain
To attacked her here in the cafe.
Shot her twice in the head and left her quite dead.
Then he somehow had gotten away.
She had worked for six years saving tips in a jar--
"To pay for her schooling," she said.
But Nancy the nurse had left in a hearse
Nancy now rested safe with the dead.
There are poems that say in a lyrical way
Every thought that a man may employ.
But what lies in a heart one can only impart by the
Music a song may enjoy.
For music rings clear when it reaches our ear,
Bringing tears and laughter and hope.
It can sound the same as the autumn rain
And say things that mere words can't emote.
Theres music that's born in the heart of a storm,
Amid flashes of lightning and din.
Its a rushing sound of floods coming down,
Like the marching of ten thousand men.
It can sound the same as the cold autumn rain,
Saying things words can never explain.
Its a score so sad it can drive a man mad--
So I cried as I drove in the rain.
There are things I believe and things that I know
There are some things I just can't explain.
But I've driven that road with many a load,
And I never saw Nancy again.
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