Little Tom

Little Tom what will be your fate Little Tom will you be 
someone great
Do you know right from wrong are they teaching you at home
Or have they turn you loose to roam Little Tom
I walked into a cafe and ordered myself something to eat
When a little boy walked in with his shoes half off his 
feet
He said (buy a paper Mister) I said how do you son
(Seven sir when my papers are sold I'll be on my way home)
What's your name (Thomas but everybody calls me Little Tom
They named me after my daddy but they say I look like my 
mom)
I said why it's almost midnight son you should be home 
asleep
(I know it but I wanna get me a bicycle and I gotta help 
mama buy somethin' to eat
My daddy's pretty mean to us and he spends most of his 
money for wine
He don't hold a job like other men cause, well,he gets 
hired all the time)
I said have somethin' to eat aren't you hungry
He said (I guess a little bit
I believe I have a hamburger and a glass of milk to go with
 it)
I said Is that enough, He said (make it too cause I ain't 
eat since noon)
Where you live son (on Main Street sir there's six of us 
livin' in one room
There's me and my three brothers and my mommy and my dad
But someday I'm gonna buy me a big house even 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 neglect their children and forget to 
maker the all mankind

Then wondered why there's juvenile deliquency when their 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 children would be brought up 
this way
Little Tom what will be your fate