‘Don't Hang'

How far away does that red brick tower
Amid silent acres of rainbows of flowers
Seem from the ashes of civil wars and confederate flags?

How long ago does standing, enraptured there
In the white garden, blossom falling in your hair
Feel in a zeitgeist of Apollo, LSD and Vietnam ?

Oh, I feel for you - I back your fight
But let's be honest here – ‘hermaphrodite'
Is not a term to incorporate into how this story pans

Congratulations – you got your man!
The happiness you deserve is in your hands
Now, in this brave and free new land
Avoid all bitter or jealous souls and
Don't hang

Don't hang

Is there anything of the serenity
Of the birdsong on the gentle Sussex breeze
In the rotting concrete and shattered glass of the ‘new world' sham?

How does the innocence of a youth spent immersed
In florid prose and pastoral verse
Equate with a squalid tenement block and a shabby pram?

Oh, I feel for you – I share your plight
But let's get this straight – the girl wasn't quite
The natural fruit for which you suffered such pangs

Congratulations – you got your man!
Your dreams realized in a wedding band
Now, in this liberated social master plan
Avoid all bigoted, sadistic filth and
Don't hang

Don't hang

Oh, I feel for you as I board your flight -
You've given me such incredible insight -
You will always occupy a special place in the life that I will have

Congratulations – you got your man!
A victory that most tragically misunderstand
Now, in this tolerant, enlightened human amalgam
Avoid all vengeful lynch mobs and bloodthirsty gangs and
Don't hang

Don't hang.

 

© M.A.Tovey 2007