Porter Wagoner - I Judged a Man lyrics

I JUDGED A MAN Writer Johnny Mullins Today I saw some ragged clothes and I judged the frame on which they hung There goes a wasted life says I I'll not waste mine for I'm young I know his kind they're all alike he's from the Skid Row part of town He'll beg a dime here and a quarter there And be in the gutter before the sun goes down Then I turned and walked into a store to buy a book of poems to read Oh the best of literature says I is for the man of higher bread Then I saw these words aimed right at me and it made me sorta hang my head For I'd turned that random to a page and halfway down this poem I read He sold a row of violets along a barren path he trod That every future pa**es by might view the handy work of God He carved a map upon a stone placed it on a dessert floor To show tomorrows dying soul where cool clear water lay in store And to write here all the many things he did to help his fellow man Why it would make a book too long to read and wear away the poet's pen Then I left the store to find that man just walk up to him rags and all And shake his hand and chat awhile and then I heard an ambulance call What happened here I asked someone why all the crowd that's gathered round They said just some old ragged man from the Skid Row part of town I bowed my head in silent prayer forgive me Lord for my idle tongue Today I saw some ragged clothes and I judged the frame on which they hung