The Boy with the Crooked Nose
September-November 2019, Gibson Chase-Pinkney

(Verse 1)
The boy with the crooked nose
Put down his book and rose 
Walked gladly to greet With no shoes on his feet
The old man who swept out the streets

(Verse 2)
After scarcely a mile, the boy had to  smile
When he saw the old fool, set on a stool
Lecturing ethics to birds in the street
Harsh edicts would greet, any fowl who’d meet
His off-balance stare, for more than a beat

(Verse 3)
After he’d heard enough shaming of birds,
The crooked-nosed boy came to the old man
To ask of old legends, or gossip he’d heard
And they spoke like conspirators sharing a plan

(Verse 4)
With an uneven grin, the man started to spin
A re-telling of heroes who travelled by ship
But the boy made a face, and the tales were replaced
With accounts of how tyrants had tightened their grip
On the city they lived in,  and expected to die
The boy wanted more, he had to know why

(Verse 5)
With patience explaining each pertinent fact,
The elder reclined and made a soft moan
In habit, His hand grasped the spot in his back
He said “Souls may not end, but the body’s on loan”  

(Verse 6)
They’d walk past old forums that now were just fields
Where laws were once drafted, and cases appealed
And each held a share Of Law’s creation and care
To ensure to all people that rules appeared fair

(Verse 7)
When the boy was much younger, he’d often maintain
The tyrant should quickly meet ruin and pain
The elder man balked, and said “It’s not your place,
Until you have grown, and the crowd knows your face
You must build and achieve, show what can be done
True trust can’t be bought, it has to be won

(Verse 8)
Since then the boy listened, more than he asked
And would help the old man, as he struggled at tasks
The boy would rise early, and take the man’s sweep
To finish the job while his friend was asleep
The old man would awaken, at the cock’s cry
And see his work finished, tears in his eyes

(Verse 9)
We know of what happened, to the crooked-nosed boy
Who eventually rose, in triumph and joy
But in sadness as well, though his city restored
For the boy could take walks with his mentor no more

Questions about this song? Email me at gibson@gibson.show