Badger

It was late in the summer when the corn was fully grown
We’d gone for a swim in the pond on my uncle Henry’s farm
And when we got home we saw a badger in the yard
Running flat out for a hole beneath the shed

It disappeared into its den underneath the floor
And it was gone and Dad just said "Goddamn
Badger can’t stay he’ll kill you just like that
Mean as any grizzly, sneaky as any cat"
And he went and got his gun from the closet in the hall
And pulled a 6-pack from the fridge and walked on out the door

While Mom made us brush our teeth and get ourselves to bed
"it’s late and he’ll be awhile" was all that she would say
And I saw him in the twilight his .410 across his lap
Sitting in a lawn chair, staring at the shed

A fallen soldier from the 6-pack laying at his feet
And sometime in the night a gunshot woke me from my sleep

It was late in the summer when the corn was fully grown
We’d gone for a swim in the pond on my uncle Henry’s farm