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OLD MAN, LITTLE BOY
is about an event from my childhood. There
was an old man in town who had fought in World War I. My mom taught
me to ask a lot of questions of older folks, and to listen to their
stories, because it would give me a direct connectionto history.
This old man, a Mr. Toone, was dying, and I wanted to get as much
of that "direct connection" as I could, as I was fascinated
by wars in general, and thought that World War I sounded like an
especially "cool" war. I kept bugging Mr. Toone, finally
asking him if he remembered killing anyone, and what was it like.
Mr. Toone started crying, then, and asked his wife and my Dad to
take me on home. He died shortly after that, and I never got to
see him again.
OLD MAN, LITTLE BOY
Old man, lie down--
lie down and sleep.
She's still there with you--
she wipes your tear stained cheek.
And Tennessee's still pretty
in the Springtime,
and the hand of Christ
still paints the Passion Flower vine.
Put wars and rumors of wars
out of your mind.
Little boy come back
and visit in the warm afternoon sun.
He'll answer all your questions,
take you riding through an old time.
Stories will come rolling
off of his tongue;
the past and future will be joined
as one.
But now the dusk has settled
and the day is done.
Listen to Old Man Little
Boy
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