Primer Coat

by Mike Cooley

The old man's out by the swimming pool
He goes there to think
He talks on the phone sometimes
Hardly mentions a thing
Said he needed it for his knees
He used to swim back in school
Graduated in '84
Quit drinking in '92

He used to call her a basket case
For hanging on like she did
The only girl of a foreman's wife
She'd never let him forget
It comes to women and they survive
But when the same comes to men
Someone comes for their babies
Something dies there and then

Slinging gravel in parking lots
And looking tough on the hood
A girl as plain as a primer coat
Leaves nothing misunderstood
Her mother and I through trembling lips
A steady hand on his own
The future of every rebel cause
When all the fight in him is gone

My sister's marrying in the spring
And everything will be fine
Mama's planning the wedding
Daddy's planning on crying
She's slipping out of her apron strings
You best leave him be
He's staring through his own taillights
And gathering speed