Orphan of the Road

From a carny show and a rodeo that shared a three-day stand

A cowboy met a fiery carny queen

In new spring nights amid the lights of the painted carny van

They laughed and loved and shared short-lived dreams

But the carny show and the rodeo went their separate ways

And the carny season bloomed and soon moved on

And I was born on a winter morn to the dark-eyed carny queen

The too-late son of something that was gone

The black-sheep child that grew up wild from the seed the four winds sowed

Unwanted son of ice and fire, an orphan of the road

I was still a child when my mama died of a chill that closed her eyes

So I was left to grow up on my own

Without a name, too wild to tame. No one cared to try

So mostly I was mostly left alone

In dingy bars and cold boxcars, hobo jungle camps

I joined the men who drift from town to town

The surging flood of restless blood flowed inside my veins

I'd never find the time to settle down

The black-sheep child

In the misty rain, I caught the train that slowed down through the town

And I pulled myself into the boxcar door

In a passing light in the deep gray night, I saw the still dark form

Of an old man lying sick upon the floor

And he said "I tried to find her, but they told me that she'd died

And that she'd left an only son behind

And I tried to find him, but I never did, but I know I could rest in peace

If I could just see him once before I die

I found a match and I quickly scratched it into a flicker and flame

Then I held it close and I gently raised his head

My mother, sir," I said of her, "I have her same dark eyes

He smiled a cowboy smile and then was dead

The black-sheep child