If I knew then what I know now
Is what my elders would say
Refusing to take their advice
I always wanted to play
Now time had made me grow
I think how life is strange
Because I’m the one with advice
That seems to ring the same
If I knew then what I know now

Pushing a stroller as she walked in a hurry
She was dressed in clothes that were *****
With hair matted and a face of lines that deeply ran
The stroller looked as if it came from a garbage can
  
Hanging from the handles  were ***** leather bags
Covering something in the seat tattered blankets  like rags
She approached looking like time had been unkind
But in her eyes a glimmering smile was defined
  
I opened my mouth to speak to her
And see if I could make a help offer
Slowly she lifted her hand and stretched a curved finger
“Shhhhhh," she said while over her mouth it did linger
  
Then down she reached for the tattered blanket
I knew that spot was special and private
She picked up a change purse from the seat
Opened it wide as she tried to be discreet
  
She motioned for me to look inside
It was full of gold dollars to my surprise
She reached in and took out two of them
Then grabbed my hand and I knew it was Him
  
All of a sudden a fear came over me
A soft voice in the breeze began to speak
"Don't be afraid, you know I Am"
Then she put the two dollars in my hand
  
When I looked up to thank her
Something happened I’ll always remember
She and her stroller were gone as if she had never been there
At the gold dollars I looked and just stared

Never did you tell me I wasn’t worth it
You believed that I would not fail
Made me think I could move mountains
Never saw my imperfections
Said I  was made perfect the day I was born
Even made time to dream with me
Your eyes saw what no one else saw

When I said I can’t you said I could
When I said I won’t you said I would
You said spread your wings and fly
This love I have for you will never die

Now that you’re gone I remember
How you held your head when you smile
And your laughter deep and genuine
When you looked at me you turn to love
Never saw that in a man’s eye before
The way your arms fit around me
Like they were made for me to be held by

When I said I can’t you said I could
When I said I won’t you said I would
You said spread your wings and fly
This love I have for you will never die

Although I miss you deeply
I am glad for the time we had together
Saying good-bye was the hardest
But at least I was blessed to know you
Agreeing to let you go from the beginning
I didn’t think our friendship’s love
Would make such an impression

When I said I can’t you said I could
When I said I won’t you said I would
You said spread your wings and fly
This love I have for you will never die

Does a man turn away from right and good
Brought to the fact of humility not being able to provide
Children crying day and night denied everyday necessities
A lack of pride in being a man among men
Perceived lazy by a society that never has been hungry

Does man lack character, ethics, and moral stability
On dark cold chilling nights with no shelter or stillness
Caught up in a fight for mere  wake in the morning survival
Things never perceived when childhood dreams were dreamed

When does enough become enough for you and I
How many go postal events or deaths in the streets
For the norm not to be normal in the sight of us all
Suffered long enough to bring suffering to an end
The level of misconception considered deeply

I just want to pay my bills
I get so tired of worrying all the time
About where my next meal will come from
I feel like packing up, taking off, and just running

I wish one time, when my phone rings
The bill collector would not sing
That same old melody of how they will take everything

I want to go to my mail box just once
And not come back feeling like I weigh a bunch
Because of all the notices in there

Sometimes I really get scared
How they don't even care
When my check gets lost
And I can't pay their cost

Then they tack on another fee
To let me know I am really not free
And this is how things seem to always be

So I just sit back and think
I just want to pay my bills