Cold Night in Mississippi
9-5-05 Last night one am heard the doorbell ring Woke me from sleep/been dreaming of mysterious things Trudged through the house peeked out the window blinds And of all the things I’d imagined I still was surprised to find A young black man shivering from the chill past the front gate car lights were flashing up the hill So I cracked the door asked him what did he need “Sir I’m lost and out of gas, could you help me please?” Though I heard the words it wasn’t his face that I saw Instead a ghost of my past whose memory still filled me with awe (chorus) It was a cold night in Mississippi 25 years haven’t erased the memories I was a young man lost and he was an old man tossed away by society Our paths crossed that night in Mississippi My first instinct had been to tell him “go away” bad things happen with strangers You read about it everyday But the debt I owed wouldn’t let me turn away So I said “just a minute, I’ll get dressed and we’ll be on...