All Wide Open - Richard Shindell

She showed up on the doorstep out of nowhere

All wrapped up in a Goodwill overcoat

She was shaking, with her arms drawn tight around her

She said Daddy I’ve been clean almost a month

With his jeweler’s eye he looked at her a moment

He stepped aside and nodded to the door wide open

She went inside and sat down in the kitchen

Still wrapped up in that Goodwill overcoat

He said, Don’t you want to hang that in the closet

She said, Not just yet I’m still a little cold

Then how about I put on a pot of coffee

He said, standing at the stove now with his heart wide open

Wanting to believe it could be true

But wary of another perfect lie

Forming like a diamond under pressure

And emerging flawless in her eyes

Thanksgiving is just around the corner

She asks him, Is it alright if I stay

And with the voice of one afraid that past is future

He says why don’t we just take it day by day

And her overcoat is hanging in the closet

Looks like winter’s coming on now, but it’s all wide open