An Ol' Soul

They say, "you have
an old soul."
I tend to agree
for I am my Grandfather's
child.

Please...come with me, for I had a dream I want you to see.

I can smell Ol' Arkansas.
When I close my eyes
I become that once young man
who toiled in the field as a sharecroppers
son.

Out upon dis land
my body do nothin' but get dark and grow strong.
Dis is a young mans job
dat my papa done fo much too long.

And I aint wanna be like him...
I wanna be what he coulda
been.

We singin' dat devil music...me an my friends
when da hard workin' mans day is done
in da back of da shack
so gospel mamma can't hear.

Finga' pickin' on 'ol gitars...
howlin' at da sky...
sharin' dreams and
country made moon shine.

"Dink Imma head north one of des days...
dink maybe on up ta Chicago...
yessem' maybe I'll e'vn marry an take dat pretty girl
Dorothy Mae.

Yea...des cotton fields aint gone get da besta me.
Dink I'll go head on and getta job in one of dose big
'ol fancy factories."

"Bo...you din talkin' wit no sense"

"Oh am I floyd?...Well justa wait an see.
A man can change his dest'ny."

"dest'ny, dest'ny...Bo what dat be?
Imma sharecropper son, and you is da
same kinda nigga' as me!
Is you dink you better?"

"naw I ain't better, but you justa wait an see
dis place not gone get da besta me"

Well it took two mo' years...
wit e'vry bead of sweat an a few tears
da dream became clear.

...Mamma and Pappa both died from
not havin hearts as strong as day
pride.

But I, in da face of lafta
by dem who chose not ta reach higha,
worked dat 'ol land...
an carried on wit my plans.

Yea me...me and Dorthy Mae
made our own way.
And here we is goin' on forty years.
Survivin' sometimes with nothin'
but da good grace of God above.

Yea...'Ol Arkansas
yo fields is a long time
away.

Da dirt, da sweat
a sun wit out mercy
daddy, mamma
a shack wit da outhouse
in da back,
friends an enemeis
hatred an love
a preddy lil' angel
been sent from h'ven
above.

'Ol Arkansas
can't says I ever did miss ya a whole lot...
but as my kids kids get grown
and got questions on where it is I come from
I smile a big wide smile an rememba dem days back
den.


....dream done....

I awake to the sun.
Grandpa today, has been
ten years gone.
Yet his chair and his knee
the westerns we watched on t.v.
seems to always rebirth a fresh memory.

Or it could be....
that when it comes down to me
the reason for remembering these things
is simply because I have an old soul
that cherishes in my heart what truly matters
most.