Ask me for a demo

He's got 'ask me for a demo' on his T-shirt
and he has a little script he has to say
But he's getting very tired and his feet hurt
from hanging round the shopping mall all day

He will try to catch your eye for just a moment
and a moment's all he's got to set his hook
for he knows that all his arguments most cogent
won't mean a thing if you don't stop and look

So the trick to be successful in your shopping
is to ignore the very presence of that man
for if you and he connect you'll end up stopping
and your shopping schedule will go down the pan

Being a mum is hard, mum

Am I doing this right Mum, am I doing this right
a dozen times a day I ask, am I doing this right
I don't know how you did it mum
but I turned out all right
Being a mum is hard mum, am I doing this right

My neighbour's kids are clean mum, my neighbour's kids are clean
whatever time of day it is their kids are always clean
but mine are always grubby
and their shoes will never gleam
Being a mum is hard mum, when your neighbour's kids are clean

My home is never neat mum, my home is never neat
I tidy up and I put away but this stuff has got me beat
we've got more stuff than storage space
and it's piled up on the seat
Being a mum is hard mum, when your home is never neat

I don't know why I ask mum, I don't know why I ask
It may be 'cause I worry that I'm not up to this task
and I know the dead can't answer
but you're still the one I ask
Being a mum is hard mum, when you've got no-one to ask

Silver Linings

All idylls fail, all arches fall
all human effort comes to nought
For every winner you must call
a loser in each battle fought
Each silver lining has a cloud
Each bright side shows the other dark
and ev'ry optimism avowed
reminds us that life can be stark
And yet through all this doom and gloom
we raise our heads and carry on
For tho' it's dark now in this room
at other times the sun has shone
And sure the sun is shining now
in other rooms, on other men
and all we have to do is go
to where the sun will shine again.

Not Here

Last night like every night before
I dreamed of sea and sky and shore
of walking barefoot on the sand
of holding your hand in my hand
as gentle breezes stir your hair
while I my true love do declare.

You always answer yes my dear
then I wake up and you're not here.

Without

I want but cannot have
I see but cannot touch
the joy I find in friendship hurts my heart so much

My world cannot be whole
without you by my side
but half a world is better than no world, I know, I've tried.

American Gothic

Grant Wood - "American Gothic" - 1930


Decently darkly dressed
With his Sunday go to meetin' coat over weekday workin' pants
Got the land in his blood and dirt in his nails
But his boots are clean
Clean as his conscience in this Bible bound land
Clean as the tools that he holds in his hand

Not old but he looks it
Time's plough marks his face like his plough marks the land
And the honest sun tans his skin like hide
But his eyes are bright
And they look on the world through steel rims and glass
They look on the world and watch the years pass

And the years pass
And his still beautiful, dutiful, stand by him for life, wife
Who lives in the here and the now and the real
Occasionally looks away
And she can't help but wonder what might have been
'cause she never saw this in her little girl dream