Coming Home. Poem by PAUL COLVIN

I've walked a thousand streets

And lived a dozen lives

Been down so many times

And told as many lies

I thought I knew it all

But now I'm not so sure

I need love's drug to pick me up

And you're my only cure.



I'm always asking questions

But no-one ever hears

The crowded streets just pass me by,

Don't know I'm even here

I've slept the nights in doorways

A blanket for my bed

The cold frost biting at my feet

With the stars above my head.



I'm the hobo on the highway,

The beggar on the beat

I'm the drunkard in a bar-room brawl

You'd never like to meet

I'm always in the wrong place

At exactly the right time

I'm the stranger on that lonely shore

The busker playing for dimes.



I'll get to where I'm going

And hitch-hike all the way

My yesterdays' tomorrow

It's just another day

I live my life the way I want

And put this old man first

For a horse dragged down to water

Will always die of thirst.



I've been tramping dirt for too long now

These bones they need a rest

My heart is getting lonely

And it weighs upon my chest

I know I'm not in Heaven

But here's where I want to be

Just roaming in God's country

Where my heart is always free.



So journey long and travel slow

And be the man you are

The open sky's my atlas

My street signs are the stars

Sister Sun has kept me warm

And I thank you Brother Moon

But now I'm heading home for love

And I'll be with her soon.