John's Wife
©1978 Andrew Calhoun, recorded on Water Street and Staring at the Sun.
Anne Hills recorded a beautiful version on "Don't Panic," Flying Fish CD.
I dropped the "John is a master..." verse on the second recording.
I took a lover, it was late in the Spring
The fleas did sparkle, and the bees did sing
His body beside me, like a bird on the wing
And the skies did weep and mourn
I came back to John, when the mid-summer tattled
The doors all closed, and the ceiling rattled
I took off my clothing, but none of it mattered
And the skies did rain cold rain
I went back to night school, the following Autumn
I passed my lessons, and then I forgot 'em
Professor did stare at bottom and bosom
We did gather there
And the Winter came, like a guiltless trial
When we met on the platform, we forgot to smile
And the air was dead, but after a while
We did not notice the snow
John is a master of rationing sorrow
John is a swell and a jolly good fellow
But the water is deep where it looks to be shallow
He will drown in tears
I am alive, starved and swollen
An untaught, storebought, half-crazy woman
In need of a drink, or my father's blessing
Help me to be free
Now it's early in Spring, and the streets have roses
The buses go by, children hold their noses
A daughter of darkness, a daughter of Moses
I will die one day