Music and wonderful memories go together.

Two Guitars

Why would I put this in poetic form to read,
Because it filled the empty moments with a memory , I need,

There’s just something about a poem that holds a story in your mind,
When it brings a pleasant feeling, the kind you like to find,

He was sadly disappointed, his son wouldn’t play the thing,
A guitar with a special tone, that made his sad heart sing,

It had a wonderful history, built with such loving care,
But taken to a pawn shop and five years resided there,

Few folks know it’s origin, one Montgomery Wards would sell,
The maker was of Gibson , a company known so well,

It was just a parlor guitar , you only played for having fun,
But born was this little creation back in nineteen thirty one,

For years it sold by catalog, the cheapest you could buy,
Recording King they named it, but it’s sales would quickly die,

Bigger names replaced it and it left from every store,
The golden age of musical craftsmanship would be seen no more,

But a company in California went back through the years,
Restoring the work of artist craftsmen that never had living peers,

A replica design with a beautiful tone from pre war selected wood,
Most folks said they couldn’t , but the craftsmen said they could,

Vintage modeled and hand assembled it came back with a win,
For a few short years, in perfect design, the music was born again,

But like everything, dollars and cents came before the sweet refrain,
And once again this perfect model bore short cuts for the gain,

Before it vanished completely, I found one in a music store,
Then learned the sad discouraging news, they don’t make‘em anymore,

One should really be enough, except for a guy like me,
I wanted another for back up, broken strings , you see?

The best way really to find one was ,of course the internet,
Twas then I found, this special model was impossible to get,

I was really getting discouraged, the Sorry’s were getting old,
Every one that I heard of, too late; already sold,

I was told to get a Taylor, Martin, Gibson or a Gretsch,
Well they are all great guitars, But the price was quite a stretch,

And the name don’t make the music, I’ve owned most of them before,
So I kept on searching, every source and every store,

Then my bad luck changed to better , when I was almost done,
A pawn shop in Ohio said that they had one,

Quickly making purchase, said they’d send it without fail,
I just hoped they packed it well for sending in the mail,

Two thousand miles away, it can’t get here too soon,
When I opened up that little guy, it was still in tune,

This story has no ending, that hasn’t been decided yet,
But I’ll be playing until that day this guitar you can bet,

Country songs, like lonesome blues and window up above,
And then on Sunday with my friends, the Gospel that I love,

No more big celebrations, or live honky tonks and bars,
I’ll Just sit back , relax, and enjoy, these ol'Two Guitars.

© 2021 Tom Leftwich