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.