The Back Page - John Kay

On the back page of the paper

Next to the ad for mobile homes

I read about my brother’s keeper

And the kindness he had shown

To some helpless perfect stranger

Who cried out in his pain

And what the front page had taken from me

Was given back to me again

My thoughts turned to the teachers

And the champions of the weak

The protectors of the creatures

And the saints down on the street

All the helpers, all the healers

Who lay hands on wounded souls

And whose daily acts of mercy

Drive the cynic from my door

Countless times I’ve seen the wonders

That the gift of hope can bring

To the betrayed and the forgotten

Yet I stood watching in the wings

Too many times I heard the call

And did not answer, to my shame

But I swear from this day on

I will lend a helping hand