The Last Plank

[Verse 1]
The chill of morning still clings to the barn wood, thin and gray,
Just like the memory of a promise I made yesterday.
We built this life like a good sturdy frame, plumb and true,
Never thought a single board would have to be cut through.

[Chorus]
Another feed sack gone, another winter wind,
This barn ain't got the structural integrity it once had, my old friend.
A silent whistle blows, a distant coal train's cry,
Carries off a part of me, beneath this lonely sky.

[Verse 2]
Remember teaching you to walk, all legs and clumsy grace?
A blueprint of a champion, found in this forgotten place.
Your eyes held all the valley pride, a rebar kind of strong,
But these worn hands can't keep building when the bedrock's gone too long.

[Bridge]
It ain't about a crooked nail, or beams that started to bend,
It's watching every timber weaken, knowing it's gonna end.
This valley taught me hard choices, etched 'em deep within my soul,
Sometimes you gotta saw the plank, just to keep the whole structure whole.

[Outro]
Just sawdust and silence, where your stall once stood so tall,
A hollow ache where the foundation used to be for us all.