Ace

It hardly seems a long time just a minute of the day

When the man who stood beside me more than gave himself away

The food stain on his spotted shirt a gray beard on his face

A man composed of many names so I just called him Ace

Ace can't read and Ace can't write and

He sleeps on a bench at night

A little man the world has left behind

He ain't bitter he ain't sweet

Makes his living on the street

Never knowin' what he's gonna find

Born in Mississippi pickin' cotton as a child

Left soon for the city where he heard that life was wild

That was fifty years ago when nothin's really strange

From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets is really not much change

Ace can't read and Ace can't write and

He sleeps on a bench at night

A little man the world has left behind

He ain't bitter he ain't sweet

Makes his living on the street

Never knowin' what he's gonna find

Go back to the country no he really can't do that

Wasted years have left him nothin' but an old straw hat

So he puts it on his head and waves a last good-bye

With no time left to turn around and no time to ask why

Ace can't read and Ace can't write and

He sleeps on a bench at night

A little man the world has left behind

He ain't bitter he ain't sweet

Makes his living on the street

Never knowin' what he's gonna find

This old world has left poor Ace behind