along the winding way of life
i tread with feet of glass
hoping that my luck won't change
and praying for a chance
to tell you what i think about
the things you've said and done
and how your smile affects my mind
and how your gaze does stun
i fall and break upon your shore
i wither in your heat
i wilt and fall and lie and die
and still you taste too sweet
i can't refuse can't turn away
can't even blink my eyes
and if my death should come about
men still will think me wise
in agonizing time and space
a distance too far gone
i waited watched and loved you once
though you could not reply
and on through time oh endless time
enduring even fear
for when you notice me below
you will not need a tear
your wrath is fierce too swift to see
you'll pound me into dust
it doesn't hurt your touch is good
i cherish every thrust
and as i spread into the air
you'll turn and storm away
and as i smile the pain will fade
and this without dismay

and when i was a younger lad
my life ranged far afield
from lazy days and fire filled nights
to animals i'd killed
to water holes and fishing spots
from dawn to dusk each day
i jumped and swam and ran and played
and slept in barns of hay
and found my friends in gangs of four
or five or six or two
we altogether ransacked life
there's naught we didn't do
we'd hike and climb and shoot and eat
we'd stalk our deadly prey
we laughed and cried and terrified
all those who passed our way
until the end of summer came
in shoes we found our feet
and collars high and tight and stiff
away from wind and wheat
but autumn nights by candlelight
continued we our feasts
in cave or river, tree and sky
hunting the mighty beasts
and now we're grown and all alone
we've left that life behind
with wives and daughters, sons and cars
and all that it entails
but still remembered summer nights
call out to me some ways
and i recall boyhood adventure
and smile for olden days