John's Wife Lyrics

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

The teacher 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 may drown in tears 

I am alive, starved and swollen

An untaught, hard bought, 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