He held the stool far 
Aback some dark bar 
And coddled quietly 
His tumbler filled with gin 

He motioned my way 
And turning sideways 
He told me son, now listen in 

I’ve seen it roll by 
More times than most’d try 
It never seems to fail 
Or alter in its course 

You’re at the doorstep 
You haven’t slipped yet 
You could be golden evermore 

He told me always take some time just wonder 
About some foreign land or days of old 
And admit it to yourself if you should blunder 
And always try to take the higher road 

His eyes grew wide now 
He drank his gin down 
And said he’d had to learn this 
All the hardest way 

Beware of cardinal sin 
Take that which you put in 
And savor each and every day 

He told me always take some time just to wonder 
And always come to question what you’re told 
And to love without condition those who wander 
For it’s they who’ll come to pave that higher road