The Educated Man

Now Tommy tall and slender had a stern and solemn face
An earnest lay professor, out of time and out of place
His home a grassy corner in a rusting caravan
An earthy seat of learning for an educated man

Somewhere in my scholarship, he took me under his wing
Granting me the schooling of a raw apprentice king
Library full of treasures, of all life since it began
To lend me his kind knowledge as an educated man

He talked of stars and planets and the wonders of the brain
Be curious, be questioning, was ever his refrain
Exercise you're mind he'd say, read everything you can
A word is like a jewel to an educated man

One satchel swinging day from school the caravan was bare
Without a word, he'd slipped away for challenges elsewhere
With stinging eyes, I shambled off, then angrily I ran
Betrayed by one I valued as an educated man

A word is like a jewel he'd say
read everything you can
Where wonder lies there never dies
An Educated man

I bustled in still biting hard, pretending not to cry
And on the kitchen table, reaching up towards the sky
There lay a pile of heavy books, encased in a leather band
A gift beyond all measure from an educated man

Beside it lay a scribbled note in florid Portman blue
I picked it up, it merely said the rest is up to you
I turned the cover, scanned the page, the pilgrimage began
Along the paths and byways of an educated man

A word is like a jewel he'd say
Read everything you can
Where wonder lies there never dies
An educated man

Tommy taught me more than even he could comprehend
This school of life begins at birth and we define its end
And be it home or college spire or rusting caravan
Where wonder never dies, there lies an educated man

A word is like a jewel he'd say
Read everything you can
Where wonder lies there never dies
An educated man