Ash Wednesday lyrics

Daddy`s on the back porch
playing with a blow torch
standing by the front door
Avon Ladies For the Poor
Meanwhile Mama smiles,
`Get your lover down the aisle
before he`s gone`

Lisa says, `Don`t cry;
I`ll bring you flowers when you die
I`ll go to school in only black
or maybe in a gunni sack
I`ll get your friends to stand around
and dance upon buried ground
on our front lawn

But don`t you worry;
I`m sure she`s sorry
and doesn`t mean that stuff about the aisle.`

Ring around the rosy
a pocket full of posy
ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

The test came back on Tuesday last
right before our pseudo fast;
Lisa said `it`s heaven sent--
you can`t give ice cream up for lent
Mama said I wouldn`t last forty days,
but maybe two

So I spent the day avoiding mother
reading Dr. Joyce Brothers,
reading Where the Wild Things Are
and some of Plath`s Bell Jar
Reading Daddy`s tax forms
to see if it would be born
on Christmas Day

And I`m not weeping;
I think I`m keeping
a baby who will soon be half my age.

Ring around the rosy
a pocket full of posy
ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Quitting smoking is a must,
ashes ashes dust to dust
try to turn a new leaf,
giving up pork and beef
Lisa says she`ll buy me bras
and maybe I should join a spa
or take Lamaze

It`s funny how you never know
exactly when you`re asked to grow,
exactly when you take the load
or head up on your own road
Exactly which the day will be--
maybe Ash Wednesday
or Mardi Gras.

So I will change,
`cause I have changed--
time to put these combat boots away.

Ring around the rosy
a pocket full of posy
ashes, ashes, we all fall down