It’s taken me years

But now I know what it’s like

To have supper all ready

And then be told that the most

Important person will be late:

No, I didn’t shed tears

But I felt like taking a hike

To wear off this bad, heady

Feeling of being left at the post

Like a slow horse leaving the gate.

Still I have no fears

That you could easily psych

Me out like a weak eddy

Fighting the current at the coast

When the waves refuse to abate;

For the envy of your peers

Keeps me looking after your tike

Getting her ready for beddy-

Byes and cooking her a small roast

Which she won’t find ornate.

So if you are someone who hears

About the kid holding back the dike

As if the flood from a medi-

Æval story had tried to boast

About changing the course of fate,

Remember that he who has ears

Can get rid of the mic

And make sure that the teddy-

Bear eats all of his burnt toast

But doesn’t complain about what he ate.

(written in 1978)