doG (When a Child Says a Prayer)
words and music by Bill Pere

A child is born and as he grows he sees the world through different eyes
They call him dumb, his name is mud, he cannot read, he does not know why...
Words reverse and then reflip and pilfer shapes this loser cannot resolve
He has no friends but hopes for a life where love will evolve.

Coming home from school he feels a pull that draws him toward a side street
Dim amid the shadows stands a dog, a homeless stray
He gives a yell into the alley at the dog, as the words spill from his lips
They're both drawn onward, like two sister ships, a pull they just can't resist

Each life tells a tale, but who among us can say
Whose hand is directing this play?
Each scene is scripted with care,
When a child says a prayer...

They run the whole way home, he pets the dog as they bound upon his doorstep
He forgets how all the kids call him a fool, act so aloof, he's happy now.
A boy and a dog felt left out, and now each has a friend
But this story is only beginning, this play's not reached its end....

The dog runs down the hallway, gives a yawn, leads boy up to the bookcase;
The boy feels a warm tingle in his flesh, he takes a book from the shelf.
This syndrome that makes palindromes is something now he knows he must fight
He seeks a switch, a lever that will let him revel in light...
 
Each life tells a tale, but who among us can say
Whose hand is directing this play?
Each scene is scripted with care,
When a child says a prayer...

He opens up the book and for a long time, he does not emit a sound
He does not gape at the page, it has no gaps, he does not drown in words
He calls into the kitchen to his Mom, "Now I won, I understand!
Something's guiding my eyes on a path, like an invisible hand..."

His mother stops the cooking, drops the pots to see what it was he saw
Her child sits with his dog, his best pal, a book in his lap...
She keeps peeking at the page he is reading, to see if he is right..
It says "In the beginning, there was darkness, then there was light..."

Each life tells a tale, but who among us can say
Whose hand is directing this play?
Each scene is scripted with care,
When a child says a prayer...

 
©Bill Pere. All Rights Reserved

 

 

 


"If a man tried to take his time on earth and prove before he died what one man's life could be worth,  I wonder what would happen to this world?"  --- Harry Chapin