A Runner’s Lament

One day, as I staggered my way into Dayko,
A’shufflin’ my feet, and a’draggin' my tail,
I saw him a lyin’, and desperately crawlin’,
With the last of his strength down the length of the rail.

I stopped, and I stooped, and I asked “What’s the matter?”
He raised up his head, and I still don’t know how,
He said that his heart had been kissed by a bullet,
Then he coughed and he muttered, “I’ll not last long now.”

He looked at my boots and he said, “You’re a Runner.
I’ve heard that you carry the mail and the news.”
He said, “Now, I know I’ve got nothing to offer,
But your service’s the only one now I could use.”

“No Judge can give pardon, no priest gives salvation,
No sawbones will find me in time for a mend,
So all that I ask is deliver a message,
So I can go peaceful, and smile at the end.”

I nodded, and told him he had my attention,
I’d deliver his message, come Heavens or Hells,
He said there’s a woman, whose eyes are like diamonds,
And she was the one who must hear his farewells.

He said that he loved her and wanted her happy,
The way that he felt every time they embraced,
But he’d made a mistake and it bought him a bullet,
And a gravestone to mark him out there in the Waste.

With tears on his cheeks, he then begged her forgiveness,
As I was removin’ the hat from my head,
He looked up to the sky and he spoke her name clearly,
And that was the last word that he ever said.

Now no Judge will give pardon, no priest his salvation,
No sawbones will come with a bottle and knife,
And I’ll keep a’runnin’, deliver his message,
If I have to search for the rest of my life.