Tangled up in ol’ Rufus 
In the grass behind the shed 
Buried nose deep in the scruff a his neck 
I cried my eyes clean outta my head 
Rolled up tight, in my ol’ dog that night 
I thought a river a tears’d wash me clean 
Come the mornin’ tho’, when my eyes was dry 
They’d not washed away what I’d seen. 

I got sent home from school that day 
Just like I knowed I would 
When I left my shoes with my dog Rufus 
An showed up ta school again skin-foot 

We idled the morning, swum in the crik 
Then cut through the woods back home 
Daddy was a work in the fields 
Best ta put off my hidin’  
Till nightfall, when he come home 

The house looked curious quite  
As me n Rufus crossed the yard 
Momma weren't in the kitchen 
So I made straight for the bedroom, 
when I seen the door ajar 

That’s when I heard my Momma moanin 
And someone else a pantin' painful hard 

No longer afeared of a hidin’  
Or whatever trouble I might be in 
I busted in that bedroom door  
To save my Momma  
From the trouble she was in 

When young Ezra jumped buck naked, 
off the bed and grabbed the sheet 
I seen the light go out in Momma’s eyes 
as she scrambled to her feet. 

I laid there tangled up in ol’ Rufus 
In the grass behind the shed 
Buried nose deep in the scruff a his neck 
An’ cried my eyes clean outta my head 
Rolled up tight, in my ol’ dog that night 
I thought a river a tears’d wash me clean 
Come the mornin’ tho’, when my eyes was dry 
They’d not washed away what I’d seen. 

We ran all day and into the night 
Afore me an Rufus headed back on home 
We made it past the ol' tool shed  
When I heard my Daddy sobbin’- 
And I knew my Momma was dead. 

I flew in through the kitchen door 
Found Daddy cryin' on the bathroom floor 
And seen my Momma slunk down in the tub 
White as a sheet- 'gainst a angry sea o red. 

Rolled up tight, in my ol’ dog that night 
I thought a river a tears’d wash me clean 
Come the mornin’ tho’, when my eyes was dry 
They’d not washed away what I’d seen. 

Tangled up in ol’ Rufus 
In the grass behind the shed 
I promised Momma  
I’d keep her secret- 
Until now, gone left unsaid.  

Yesterday, tnkerr’s post Backstage Lady was a story about a sixteen year old boy who had written an original country song, about his Momma, his broken heart, and his dog, and was prepared to debut it in front of an audience at an open mike in Nashville- until- you best go read the rest of it for yourself.

I can only hope I have done him justice…