A slammin’ of the door and I sat on the floor of the stony cold cell.
A man dark and tan with his hat in his hand said: “Son, what’re you in
for?”

I gulped as I stood and tried to look good while my brain clicked and
buzzed.
I was thinkin’ of a lie to tell this guy when he said “I’m Arthur C.
Wood.”

I couldn’t believe my ears cause after all these years the man whose
books I’d read
Was standing right there with his wavy brown hair: He was behind bars
just like me.

And I tell you this story not for personal glory but so that you can
pass it on.
Arthur C. Wood, that righteous dude, was a sizzling pamphleteer.

He could light a fire in men with only his pen and this is what he said:
“You gotta share this Earth: its your place of birth, and you gotta
believe in the goodness of man.

Without a doubt, you see, the world’s about to be a much tougher place
to live
And we need kind dudes to distribute food or to get water running where
it used to sit still.

But more than that we need some real cool cats to decide that we can all
be free.
So take up the cause and embrace these Laws and let’s see what we can
create.

For, I’m mighty sure that there must be a cure for this crazy disease
called hate.”

Now back to the tale of how I landed in jail with this groovy,
forward-thinkin’ dude.
I was holding a sign that said “We need to re-align and fix what’s wrong
in the world”

When an angry man with a gun in his hand said “Boy, you got somethin’ to
prove?”
I saw his badge shine and decided it was time to cause a little bit of a
stir.

I said “Maybe I do and what’s it to you. I plan to make a spark.
I’ll start a fire in here and within a year we’ll have peace and step
outta the dark.”

Well this badge-wearing man, he didn’t understand and he slapped some
cuffs on me.
He said “Boy, you’re going downtown till you get back on the ground with
your crazy ideas.”

In that prison room I told my tune of how the cops took me away.
I was happy to see that Arthur was pleased by my courage and my
strength.

He said: “It makes me blue that a man like you gets put away
For havin’ ideals and makin’ appeals to the rulers of the land.

But it makes me proud that you can say out loud that you want to see a
change.
I’ve seen men twice your size cower and hide when it came time for such
a test.

Now listen my son, cause what you have done is greater than you might
believe.
You see, I’m an old man now, and well, I don’t know how, but I have lost
my faith.

But hearin’ that story of your transcendental glory has revived me fresh
and new.
It’s thanks to you that I can continue to spread my needed news.

Now listen here, man, I wanna shake your hand cause you mean so much to
me.”

All of this Arthur spoke like some jovial bloke who’d just returned from
war.
He thrust out his hand with the silent demand that I should thrust mine
out too.

When I reached for the shake, Arthur said, “For goodness sakes, boy,
you’ve only got one!”
He spoke of my arm, the unseen harm that he hadn’t noticed before.

You see, I was born with only one and most folks run when they realize
I’m “differently abled.”
But Arthur, my man, reached out his other hand and laid it on my
shoulder.

“You’re a real special fella, with guts like Magellan, a courage and
strength to spare.
You’ve helped your brothers and you’ve kept from others the contempt
that they have shown you.
Now it’s crystal clear that standing right here we have a hero
extraordinaire.
You’ve done more with one hand, as I understand, than most men do with
two.”

At the end of this plea, the jailman jangled his key and said “Son,
you’re free to go.”
I walked out the door completely unsure about the fate of Arthur C.
Wood.

But ever since that day I feel proud to say that I have but a single
arm.
And I know my pain is not in vain thanks to Arthur. C. Wood.