I play at lots of funerals,
This one was for a homeless man.
Bagpipers really like to play
And I play every chance I can.
The directions I was given
Were poorly done and made me late.
I had missed the poor man’s funeral
When I got to the grave yard gate.
Only the digging crew was left;
In honor of this poor man’s soul,
I asked if I could play my pipes
Before the crew filled in the hole.
I played my heart out that evening,
Like I had never played before.
A man deserves to be honored
Even if he dies flat broke poor.
The digging crew all gathered round
And I admit, that we all cried,
Though I’m sure none of the crew
Had even known the man who died.
As I left I heard one man say,
As he was wiping away tears.
“I’ve never seen a thing like that,
And I’ve dug septic tanks for years!”
Wayne Edwards is a native Texan, graduate of Texas A&M University, and retired Air Force officer. He lives, with his wife Ruth, on a fish farm in Texas, in an underground house he built himself. Wayne can be reached via e-mail at 
