(a song for lonely children)

I’ve always wondered just what I’d do
If left all alone after school
The playground deserted and no one around 
The wind blowing with a lonely sound
Striking the steel post with the tether ball chain 
As a Dixie cup rolls across the asphalt plain 
Yes, I’ve always wondered just what I’d do
All alone on the playground after school
I might sit on the bench with my hand on my chin
And wonder when the people are coming back again 
While my friends were all eating dinner at home
I’d rummage through my lunch bag alone
A stray dog might come and beg of me
When I tried to pet him he’d turn and flee
I might look through the windows of the deserted school 
Thinking of days inside with the work I must do
Then remember a recess with a 50-yard race
Now vanished from the school yard without a trace 
Finally I’d realize just who I am
A Robinson Crusoe in search of a friend
But no matter how lonely I might feel
I have inside me what is most real
And the best that can ever happen to me
Is having myself to know and to be