Poor But Honest

Poor But Honest

Poor, but honest, that’s how he was raised
In Mississippi in the bad old days
The mills were empty, the crops diseased
The South was gasping on its knees

His father hunted treasure, Confederate gold
Somewhere down in Florida he was told
He had to quit school early for the family
Delivered telegrams for three cents each

Then he went to work for the Conservation Corp
Relocating graves from the Civil War
Became an engineer on construction lines
They built the Cooley Dam in ‘39

He was on the project in ‘44
To build a weapon that might end the war
The war was over and the troops set free
To hasten after the American Dream

There never was a man grew as tall as he
From the smallest seed to the tallest tree
Glory be the green tree that turns to red
Glory be the tree when its leaves are shed

Raised from nothing he conquered time
With a lot of gumption and a steel trap mind
He overcame the damage his father did to him
He never left his family for reason or whim

Poor, but honest, that’s how he was raised
In Mississippi in the bad old days
Poor, but honest, that’s how he was raised
In Mississippi in the bad old days