Soul Man
A figure crouched in
Human misery
Is broken by the world
That he tried so hard
To nurture.
Straining muscles and
Rivulets of sweat
Built the city that he
Loved.
He was a soul man,
Singing hymns as he worked.
His own raw hands helped
Stack the steel and brick and glass,
His own aching feet paced the
Factory floor
That he trusted with his
Family's hunger and need for money.
His own heart beat
In the engine of every car,
In the wall of every building,
In the lanes of every road.
He was a soul man,
Thinking of the children.
And now this city that
He cared for like an infant
Has grown up and rebelled,
Tossing him from the factory he worked,
To the road he paved,
And finally to the homeless shelter
That he helped to build.
He was a soul man,
Praying for his family.
He is ashamed, thinking
That he must have done
Wrong, failed to teach a crucial lesson,
Not knowing that the city he cared for
Has simply turned its back
On the soul man's human misery.
Human misery
Is broken by the world
That he tried so hard
To nurture.
Straining muscles and
Rivulets of sweat
Built the city that he
Loved.
He was a soul man,
Singing hymns as he worked.
His own raw hands helped
Stack the steel and brick and glass,
His own aching feet paced the
Factory floor
That he trusted with his
Family's hunger and need for money.
His own heart beat
In the engine of every car,
In the wall of every building,
In the lanes of every road.
He was a soul man,
Thinking of the children.
And now this city that
He cared for like an infant
Has grown up and rebelled,
Tossing him from the factory he worked,
To the road he paved,
And finally to the homeless shelter
That he helped to build.
He was a soul man,
Praying for his family.
He is ashamed, thinking
That he must have done
Wrong, failed to teach a crucial lesson,
Not knowing that the city he cared for
Has simply turned its back
On the soul man's human misery.