Gentle on My Mind

It's knowing that your door is always open
 And your path is free to walk
 That makes me tend to keep my sleeping bag rolled up
 And stashed behind your couch
 And it's knowing I'm not shackled
 By forgotten words and bonds
 And the heat stains that have dried up on some loving
 That keeps you in the back roads
 By the rivers of my memory
 That keeps you ever gentle on my mind
 It's not clinging to the rocks and ivy
 Planted on their columns mellowed by me
 Or something that somebody said
 Because they thought we'd fit together walking
 It's just knowing that the world will not be cursing
 Or forgiving when I walk along some railroad track and find
 That you're moving on the back roads
 By the rivers of my memory and for hours
 You're just gentle on my mind
 I dip my cup of soup from a gurgling
 Cracking cauldron in some train yard
 I'm barely running cold how
 Have a dirty hat pulled low across my face
 Through cupped hands around the tin cans
 I pretend to hold you to my breast and find
 That you're waving from the back roads
 By the rivers of my memory
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind
 Ever smiling, never gentle on my mind