All he ever really wanted ....

All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

Something about that quiet darkeyed boy whose smile was always so very bright
Told the other children that he was around that something about him just wasn't right
His clothes were always the same ones as before and his hair was always like a ruffled nest
No matter how much he would apply himself to school a C would be for him his very best..

All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

He was always the last one chosen in the line when it was time for all to play a game
People never really paid much attention to this boy he was treated by everybody the same
And when he would return back to his home from school he would run into his room and hide
Something there was certainly more frightening then any  treatment than he felt on the outside

All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

Then the father showed up from his place of work and started to wield again that angry hand
The boy who was hiding in his secret safe place was always discovered and made to stand
While he was receivng the lashes  from a flying belt until he would  drop limp upon the floor
The  father would then simply walk away not checking  to see about his boy so bruised and sore

All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

He couldn't ever react to life like  others could and he couldn't even feel like the others ever felt
He was the child who was apparently troubled to the core; but only he knew the reason was that swinging belt
He wished he didn't have to go back to his home from school anymore and he wished there was some other place
But there was too much shame for him to cry out for help and he was too afraid of  his father's angry ways

All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

Then it happened that one day he found a friend and it was a stranger he came upon while in the street
He somehow felt it was safe to tell this stranger of his plight :  this unknown person he chanced to meet
It seemed so miraculous that he should meet this unknown man after all this man didn't shout or scream
He even invited him to have a scrumptious meal with him and finished it off with the largest bowl of ice cream


All he ever really wanted was to hear someone call him out by his own childhood name
And all he ever really needed from anyone was to be selected for a childhood game

Now this boy is always seen out on the streets and he can always be found in his  circle of friends
But the type of life he had traded his old life for is not one  known for the loftiest of trends
Something about  being with people who said they cared made all the terribleness of this new way
Like a piece of heaven on earth for this boy and he can still be found living this same life of crime today...