Once upon a time
Their lived a little lad/
Who worked like heaven at being good
When you were prized for being bad/

His name was
Christopher Cochise Carlo
Chang-lee Jones

They called him C.J.
For short/

And whupping on his head
Was the "boyz in the hood" favorite sport/

"C.J." was part Irish, Indian
Spanish, Chinese and Afro-Black/
Who "survived" on the
Wrong side of the railroad track/

On C.J. side of town
Fighting was a way of life/
Before a kid could learn to use the bathroom
They learned to use a knife/

C.J. would come out to play
Taking his life in his hands/
Cause this was the side of town
That would take the hood out of man/

C.J. would hit the streets dressed clean
Never "shoddy"/
And neighbor hood thugs would attack
Screaming "get C.J., he's everybody"/

Little C.J. was a righteous dude
Who wouldn't fight as a rule/
So like "Peoria Pryor" he learned to run
And he could sho run cool/

Sideways, crossways,
Forward and backwards he'd run/
When the bad boys couldn't catch him
They'd search out other fun/

Though C.J. was only five years old/
He had many hair-raising stories
He could have told/

One tale unraveled after
His long runs home/
When he ran to his dad
Who was talking on the phone/

His dad was in deep conversation
With friend/
C.J. shook him up when
He came running in/

His dad was angry and
Started to go up side C.J.'s head/
When C.J. began pleading
"Dad- remember what you said?"/

"You promised you'd take me to the zoo."/
It had been an idle promise
Nothing C.J.'s dad intended to do/

C.J.'s dad continued talking while
C.J. tugged at his arm/
When his dad shook C.J. loose
Screaming "boy go sit down
fore I make your fanny warm"/

C.J. insisted again and again/
But his old man wa not about to give in/
So his ole man struck up a deal/
Anything to stop C.J.'s squeal/

He spoke to C.J. in a loud
Angry shout/
'"Put this puzzle together
Then I'll take you out."/

A 3,000-piece puzzle of the world was
Dumped on the glass top table tray/
C.J. in his childhood innocence
Hurriedly began working away/

Time passed
Twenty minutes to be exact/
C.J. was at his daddy's chair
Tapping him on the back/

Now his dad was raving mad
His voice tremble as he spoke/
He grabbed the young lad
Squeezing C.J.'s throat/

Dad spoke " what in the heck's
Wrong with you/
Didn't I tell you don't bother me
Until you got through?"/

"But I am through!"
C.J. said, beginning to cry/
Looking his dad
Straight in the eye/

"Boy if you're lying"...
Warned his dad/
I'll fan your rear end
Until it's red/

His dad was mad as the blazes
Raging like a baboon/
Snorting and sniffing as he stormed
To the front room/

Sure enough
In plain sight/
The puzzle was assembled
Together -- right/

Ole dad was stunned,
Pleased and proud/
He hugged his son
Exclaiming out loud/

"What you've done son
Is DY-NO-MITE.../
How'd you get this puzzle of
The whole world to come out right"/

"How did you do it?"
Questioned C.J.'s dad/
"Not only did you finish...
You finished so fast."/

C.J. waited a while/
Savoring his father smile/
C.J. happy as a lark/
In a shy whisper he remarked/

"On the flip side of the puzzle
Of the world
Was a picture of a man's head
I could trace"/

"And I knew just as soon as I
Could get the man's head together
The whole world would fall into place!"/