In My Time

|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _ x x | Fifteen years adrift upon the rising foreign tide In my time    in my time  With nothing much to show for all the learning that I did What is mine    riffs of rhyme  Burning up the highway playing stops along the way Writing letters, painting pictures, loving, what more  can I say Shady ladies  |_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _| Watching out for the danger signs that loomed along the road I learned to fly      I give it a try  The devil came to meet me and I told him where to go I choose to live    he chose to die  He told me to go with him to his pleasures down before I said, "I do not trust you," anyway  I  told him "no" That's just too easy  |_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _| One day I saw the beggar lying face down on the city sidewalk grime    nickels and dimes  The dollar that I gave him was all I had on me then He said "Friend    what's the name?" I said "It does not matter, you might think you heard me singing On some radio show or playing on the TV Maybe on the Hollywood Squares" |_ _|_ _|_ _A m/C |_ _| I gave my name and wondered why I hoped he would not call I don't know why    I did it at all  I go down to his corner to talk to him now and then I brang the wine    he had the time  He told the most amazing tales of laughter and of trains and jails Society girls whose plans had failed, the shitty deals The DT's and the pain  |_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _| On Christmas Eve I went down where the beggar used to be The man was gone    and I walked on   Though the city roared with the sound of yuletide business going on I heard a sound    I turned around  And it happened though so quickly, in a moment stood the vision In a flask of light, I saw it was the beggar's angel Bidding me goodnight  |_ _|_ _|_ _| Fifteen years, a thousand dreams and many moons ago In my time    in my time  In years to come I'll see it like so many times before Live it again    breathe it again  While burning up the highway playing stops along the way Writing letters, painting pictures, loving, what more can I say Shady ladies  |_ _|_ _