My Grandfather Edward Smith built a bench in 1951 for us
to sit on. Grandpa called it the Old Crows Nest. It was on a bank over looking Route 19.
Across the road was Childress Mountain in West Virginia. My grandparents, parent and I lived in a small rented cabin. We left there in 1955. I returned 52 years later and found a strip mall setting on that small piece
of land that I remember from my youth as woods and dirt roads.
The Old Crows Nest
It was just a high bank
Away from the cabin down near the road
Grandpa built a bench for an old wood plank
Tall grass no trees just the bench alone
The old crows nest stood
Across the way Childress Mountain loomed tall
Summer it was full green trees all around
Come autumn it blazed as leaves turned to fall
Than winter snow covers the ground
The old crows nest stood
Grandma, mom and I sit many a day
Talking and watching for the men to come home
That's the first place where I learned to pray
I can still hear Grandma singing with a heavenly tone
The old crows nest stood
Grandpa, Grandma, Mon and Dad gone to rest
No sits on the bench I held so dear
It could not last times endless tests
But I can still see in my mind so clear
Where the Old Crows Nest Stood