(Matraca Berg&Mike Noble)
Sweet Abilena looked out at the midwestern sky
Sweet seventeen with a far away look in her eyes.
She said "I feel like a bird in a cage,
"But come September I'm flying away."
I said "I'll miss you," then I made her promise to write
Since we were tall as the corn in the spring
We shared every secret, shared every dream
So anxious to grow in the new summer rain
And bloom like a rose on the calico plains
How could she hear as we laughed on that long summer night
The tiny heart of the baby she carried inside
I stood beside her when September came
Watched her get married, then caught the bouquet
And like those hand-me-down dresses she gave me