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Hobo Ted I went to visit momma Up in Portland, Maine Memories of my childhood there Were still so very plain ************************ I stopped at a railroad crossing While a train went slowly past An old man jumped from a boxcar And wandered down the track *************************** Many miles and many years Were written on his face A drifting hobo I could tell His home was anyplace ********************** He walked about ten feet And fell by some railroad ties I ran to where he lay And knelt down by his side ************************** Lord don't let me die alone I heard him softly pray I could not hold back my tears When these words I heard him say ******************************* Mister I'm glad you're here I hate to die alone Even though I've lived this way For so many years I've known *********************************** I wasn't always by myself I had a wife and son Then came a war and I left to go To a land called Vietnam ************************************ I got lost in combat All thought I was dead Many had seen me fall When a bullet struck my head ******************************* A Christian couple found me And healed this wound of mine With God's help they saved me Though it took some 5 years time ********************************* By the the war was over And when I got back home My wife had remarried And my son had a happy home ******************************* I never told them I was back I had my reasons friend I didn't want to ruin their lives Or break their hearts again ********************************** I became a drifting hobo Simply known as Ted You see I couldn't settle down So I chose this life instead ********************************* The old man held a locket He seemed so proud to show A picture of his wife and son From a long, long time ago ********************************* As I stared at that photograph A chill went through my bones That same picture hangs on the wall In my mother's home *********************************** By now he'd finished talking And forever closed his eyes He'll wake up in a better land That's void of sad good-byes ********************************** A greater love I have not found His story was so sad That hobo on his last train home I found out was my dad ********************************** By Wayne Bryant