Blue Hobo

People say I'm so blue, and oh how that is true. 

Poor people pity me and give me coins for my cup, but that fails to cheer me up. 

My ma said to pray, and I do every day. 

All I can think of since jumping that train is my ma and sister. 

Will they be okay? My soul is drenched in perpetual rain.

I bet my sister is picking cotton, how I think I've forgotten. 

I've searched and searched for my brother, he came out here when I was younger. 

I don't go to school cause it's too costly, I am saving to keep warm from the air so frosty. 

Every night as of yet, I’ve slept under cardboard, sometimes wet, 

And when the sun starts to rise, I once again open my eyes. 

My mind is flooded with terrible thoughts and my imagination leaves me with haunting images. 

It’s hard to remember a life without fear. 

I do hope that I will go home one day, but all I can do is pray. 

This train has taken me to the supposed land of ‘milk and honey,’ 

But so far no one has been eager to hire an Okie. 

This land is truly beautiful but somehow its beauty 

Is tainted by my constant dread. 

I long for home, but coming home empty-handed 

Would leave my family dead.