(song of gratitude to st. francis of assisi)



My patron saint's a man who went

From town to town and paid no rent

The things he owned besides his soul

Were shoes a gown and a begging bowl.



What struck me first when i was young

Was how he never got bit or stung

Though bears and snakes he did befriend

Real bears and snakes not just pretend.



I knew this wasn't easy stuff

Because i tried it myself enough

But bears and snakes they ran from me

Though dogs and cats came willingly.



Deep within the wooded calm

He sang a song a simple psalm

"make me an instrument of thy peace

Let love be sown and hatred cease".



Now me i live beyond my means

In the city of lost and broken dreams

With too many pairs of shoes

That take me round and round the blues.



And the price of things is never low

Or else it isn't worth the go

And taking time turns out to give

The time it takes to really live.



You may not know who you are

Until you get hit by a star

Like i did and lived to say

It happened on my saint's feast day.



So i'm still here where i belong

And many years have come and gone

Since that dance, since that kiss, francis


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