Dead man

[philrose]

Walking through the 'hood I saw a dead man lying in the gutter
He looked like a hobo or someone who's face everyone's forgotten
He used to have a name, a woman and a dozen friends
Now his face is pressed against the sidewalk where no one steps upon
I wonder how he came to be there amongs the garbage cans
If only he would have defied his fate and lifted himself above the also rans

He left nothing worth something 'cept a scene from a blues song
He died because something made his life go wrong
But his pride kept him down and so I'm singing for his soul
His face creased from the rain and wind, his eyes as sad the memories he wore
A tattered sleeve in his pocket protecting his loose change
The other reaching out
His old shoes battered from the hard roads on which they've been

Dead in the gutter, dead with no name, dead with no shame
Dead in the gutter with no one accepting the blame

There was another one last week, nothings changed
Dead in an alley, dead just the same

And yet the world passes by and no one cares
If he was someones lover or father or son or brother
Just another man gone down
Another man with a messed up head

I smiled at a stranger last week on my walk through the 'hood
He gave me his eyes and a nod of his head and sent a smile back
I walked passed him this morning only someone had smashed in his head
The dollar I gave him took from his hand so some loser can score crack

I saw a man lying in the gutter as I walked through the 'hood
If only he'd known he wasn't a stranger
In his eyes I saw a friend.