Little Tom,
what will be your fate?
Little
Tom, will you be someone great?
Do you know right from wrong
Are they teachin' you at home
Or are you left to roam
Little town
I went into a cafe and ordered
myself something to eat
When a little boy walked in
with shoes half off his feet
He said, my paper mister? I said,
how old are you son?
Seven sir, and when my papers are sold
I'll be on my way home.
What's your name?
Thomas sir, but everybody calls me little
Tom.
They named me after my daddy,
but this hair looks like my mom.
Why it's almost midnight,
and you should be home asleep.
I know it, but I wanted to get me a bicycle,
and I gotta help mommy buy something to eat.
My daddy's pretty mean to us,
and he spends most of his money for wine
And he don't hold a job like other men,
cause, well, he gets fired all the time
I said, have something to eat,
son, aren't you hungry?
I guess a little bit,
I believe I'll have a hamburger and a glass of milk to go with it
I said, is that enough?
Make it two, ain't eaten since lunch
Where do you live, son?
On
Main
Street, sir, there's six of
us lives in one room.
That's me and my three brothers
and my mommy and my dad.
But I'm gonna buy mommy a big house someday,
if I have to turn out bad.
My appetite left me as I
sat there watching him,
and I thought, he's just one of thousands
that's brought up in a home of sin,
where the parents declare their children
and forget the maker of all mankind,
and then wonder why there's juvenile delinquency
when they're at fault most of the time.
I bit my lip and fought back tears as I
watched the little guy leave the cafe,
and I wondered how many more chil
dren would be brought up that way.
Little
Tom,
what will be your fate?
Thank you for watching.