Uncle Cecil

G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) Uncle Cecil lived on wild game and smoke, C (hammer) D (hammer) His arms were thin, but tough as oak. G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) We’d see him when the family met, C (hammer) D (hammer) Standing by the door, I’ll never forget. He’d talk of hunting, fishing too, Until he’d slip back, out of view, G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) To light a cigarette by the trees, C D G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) In the quiet, just him and the breeze. Em C G (hammer A7) Cecil shot his buck alone this year, Em C G (hammer A7) Before his sons could find him there, Lying by the deer he’d shot, And carried, before his heart gave out, I’d like to ask him about his sons, G (hammer A7). G (hammer A7). How the silence they shared shaped each one. G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) They’d sit for hours in the blind, C (hammer). D (hammer) Gaging the trees heart and mind, G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) Hands on rifles, eyes keen, C (hammer). D (hammer) In the silence, the woods serene. How’d he wait without a smoke or sound, Until the deer finally came around? G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) That silence between him and his sons, C D G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) Spoke love between the ringing of guns. Em C G (hammer A7) Cecil shot his buck alone this year, Em C G (hammer A7) Before his sons could find him there, Lying by the deer he’d shot, And carried, before his heart gave out, I’d like to ask him about his sons, G (hammer A7). G (hammer A7). How the silence they shared shaped each one. G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) Now his sons still return each year, C (hammer). D (hammer) To the empty camp, their path still clear. G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) They follow tracks leading through the trees, C (hammer). D (hammer) In the quiet woods, where his spirit was freed. Cecil’s gone, but his silence still speaks, Of love, of sons, of space, G (hammer A7). G. (hammer A7) G (hammer A7). G. of peace.