I had a dream last night it was the strangest thing
Chapter by chapter it drew me in
New York city 1965
With beatniks and hipsters in a West Side dive

My tongue was tied as I shuffled along
Surrounded by faces that I'd known so long
Like that 'On the Road' guy and old Ramblin' Jack
They were talking in rhymes and slapping my back

Now I don't know but I've been told
The poet's fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It's a precious cargo on a lonesome road

Well I woke up thinkin' that I'd been blessed
I poured me a strong one and lay down to rest
The snowflakes danced to the Christmas bells
As I started my journey into a deeper well

Now I don't know but I've been told
The poet's fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It's a precious cargo on a lonesome road

All my friends were there they held my hand
As I moved my pen into the shifting sand
It wrote in love and it wrote in rage
And that precious cargo leapt off the page

Now I don't know but I've been told
The poet's fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It's a precious cargo on a lonesome road