Can I Stay Poem by James L. A. Huetson

When I was just a lad,
It seems I always had,
to spend some time away.
My old dad would say,
'Son don't do nothin' wrong.
You won't be gone too long.
I'll come and get you soon,
To fill your lonely room'.

T'was hard in each new place,
To keep a smiling face.
With nothing of my own,
Just a stranger in their home.
No one who seemed to care,
If I was even there.
At night a time for tears,
Softly so no one hears.

One more mile and then,
I'll be home again.
Now that I'm drawing near,
My heart is filled with fear.
Will things still seem to me,
To be the way they used to be?
And this time can I stay?
Or must I be sent away?

No place to hang my clothes,
Cause everybody knows,
I won't be here too long.
Tomorrow I'll be gone.
If my Paw comes for me,
How happy I will be,
To go home to my room
Where there is no more gloom.

But comes another day,
Again I'll be sent away.
Someday I'll not return,
But no heartache will burn.
Now time's made me a man,
Much traveled through this land.
I found myself a wife,
And hope I'm home for life.

Still, every time I leave,
Within my heart I grieve,
And, while I'm far away,
That cold fear is back to stay.
Will she still be there, when,
I come home again,
Or have I lost it all?
The same as when I was small.

One more mile and then,
I'll be home again.
Now that I'm drawing near
My heart is filled with fear.
Will things still seem to me,
To be the way they used to be?
And this time can I stay?
Or must I be sent away?