My Own Backyard

Thomas Jefferson Washington
Is only eight years old
He lives with his mother
In an old abandoned car they call home
Since his daddy has been gone

From the windy city skyline
It's easy to look down
On the miracle mile
That might as well be a million miles
From Tommy's side of town

And there are far away places
That I would like to think
Keep all the world's suffering
At a safe arm's length
But I can't keep pretending
When I only have to look as far
As my own back yard

Tonight a little girl named Jesse
Will find it hard to sleep
On a desert reservation
Without the American dream
And without enough to eat

Sometimes you will find her
Staring at the sky
Wondering why so many things
Have to be so hard in her life
And Jesse starts to cry

And there are far away places
That I would like to think
Keep all the world's suffering
At a safe arm's length
But I can't keep pretending
When I only have to look as far
As my own back yard

I will sing of compassion
I will sing of charity
I will sing to remember
That in the very least of these
It is Jesus that we see