Jonesy Boy

Cats hissing in the dark Turned-over garbage cans around the park The dangling, brittle scab on your knee Oh, you’re pretty cocksure, son You’re like a Villonian singing nun Pray you wash your hair out in a sink Armed with a mandolin A snotted rag and a Delphic hymn Shaking off the dew before it sticks Oh, give us a melody Before they send us back to the sea Replace these wooden legs for ones that kick Oh, Jonesy Boy I can’t remember before There ever was war My boyhood home is now a jail They paved over the ol’ creek To make a road for lumbering teak And shipped off my family by rail Oh, I hope you stay a boy At least to bring some old men joy Even just to watch you tune your strings They’re blowing the shofar now Off to stick another sow The soil is hungry again for offerings Oh, Jonesy Boy