Cautious Man

Bill Horton was a cautious man of the road He walked lookin' over his shoulder and remained faithful to its code When something caught his eye he'd measure his need And then very carefully he'd proceed Billy met a young girl in the early days of May It was there in her arms he let his cautiousness slip away In their lovers twilight as the evening sky grew dim He'd lay back in her arms and laugh at what had happened to him On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love and on his left hand was the word fear And in which hand he held his fate was never clear Come Indian summer he took his young lover for his bride And with his own hands built a great house down by the riverside Now Billy was an honest man he wanted to do what was right He worked hard to fill their lives with happy days and loving nights Alone on his knees in the darkness for steadiness he'd pray For he knew in a restless heart the seed of betrayal lay One night Billy awoke from a terrible dream callin' his wife's name She lay breathing beside him in a peaceful sleep, a thousand miles away He got dressed in the moonlight and down to the highway he strode When he got there he didn't find nothing but road Billy felt a coldness rise up inside him that he couldn't name Just as the words tattooed 'cross his knuckles he knew would always remain At their bedside he brushed the hair from his wife's face as the moon shone on her skin so white Filling their room with the beauty of God's fallen light