As a lad, a lonesome feeling filled me,

As clouds piled high,

Up in the sky,

And cool autumn winds chilled me.

Watching the world around me change;

As living things died,

Within, I cried.

I felt so alone and strange.

It seemed as though something had ended;

A part of me,

Never more to be,

As autumn and winter blended.

As a man, that lonesome feeling fills me.

Year by year,

As autumn draws near;

Though lonely, there's something that thrills me.

As a lad, I didn't understand

That, though things die,

Which made me cry,

In spring, they'd blossom in the land.

So, what happy thought that I,

Bringing my family sorrow,

As I depart on autumn's tomorrow,

May live again, in a mansion in the sky.

By L. B. Strawn

December 6, 1980.