The Man and His Shadow

Time had rocked that town to sleep
In his thin yet gentle arm.
Long ago, the mines ran deep,
And taverns stood plain and warm.

A town shaken by a ghostly thief
Who rode a charcoal mare
A masked face, a red kerchief
And a black horse, here, was rare.

One cold morn, a stranger came
Apon this exhausted town.
He had no direction, and no name
From his nightly mare, he climbed down.

The faithful creature was all they saw
And they cuffed him and took him in
To the gallows, and to the bitter law,
Revenge was saught by tired men,

Terror stircken, the stranger stood
With Hope draining from his veins
This was when, from the dark wood
A man, a tower, came.

His brown eyes looked from face
To face, and soon did understand.
A gentle man, brought up in grace,
The knowledge to heal lay in his hand.

From his ragged boot, he pulled a gun
And let a cigar fall from his mouth.
"Now, I'll shoot 'cha if 'ya run,"
he said, "though it may seem uncouth.

"Ya'll listen up, now. Hold yer sorry tongue
And I hate to interfere,
But, murder doesn't erase a wrong,
So back off this poor feller here."

The crowd receded into the street
And the doctor cut the rope
The stranger fell, ground hit his feet
And he wept with new found hope.

The hero went from where he came
And the stranger was amazed
For that doctor stood so large,
That his shadow still remained.

Son, take my words for truth
Or don't, it's all, to me, the same
But that was a man of simple truth
And Doc Johnson was his name.

I don't know where you're headed
Or what those miles may bring.
But there is a wish, I've embedded
Into every soul who dares to sing.

I pray to God, one day you'll show
Pride and love ringing strong.
And one day I hope you know
A man so big, that, even when he's gone

His shadow will remain.