Letters From the Gallows

They gave me paper, gave me time

Said I had the right to clear my mind

So I dipped this pen in midnight's breath

And wrote to the ones I left in death

To my ma, I'm sorry I lied

Said I'd come home, then I let it slide

I took a pistol instead of a plow

And I'm payin' for that promise now

These are letters from the gallows

Words swingin' slow in the hangman's shadow

A name carved deep in a wooden beam

For a boy who broke more than dreams

To the sheriff's girl I once held near

You cried when I ran, now I know why, dear

I stole more than silver when I took that life

I stole your chance to be a wife

One shot rang out, and time stood still

A drunk man's temper, a soldier's skill

They say the rope don't lie or bend

And justice don't care what breaks in the end

These are letters from the gallows

Scrawled in ink where the daylight swallows

I ain't askin' God to set me free

I just hope He reads what I couldn't be

So burn this page or let it stay

Won't matter none come hangman's day

I was a man too late to change

But I wrote it down

Before the range