Finality

The mailman asked for his John Henry

Said I have a letter here for you today

He tore that brown gray envelope open

Wondering and afraid what it would say

Oh it was really quite official looking

With stamps and signatures and all

He’d given thirty years of life to them

Now it seems his life was on recall

Disabled and disillusioned he stared

At that paper trembling in his hand

They’d already taken away his pride

Now he found it hard to understand

They were going to take his home away

For a mistake that they had made

His little pension just wasn’t big enough

So the tax bill never did get paid

Alone he then went to the storage closet

Found the gun case so long there

He took out his thirty-thirty rifle

Then wiped away a burning tear

Then surrounded by framed certificates

Of all the many things he’d done

He said goodbye and pulled the trigger

Big government once more had won…