XXIII

You hardly notice nightfall through the smog
You hardly hear the streetcars hissing by
The kitchencat, and Joe the brewer's dog
Remind me that my life has gone awry

Wives! Wedded union!
Eightfold excommunion
The proud foreman's son
Whose life is undone

Who treads the drunken wharves without his father
Who drinks Joe's ghastly beer without a quiver
And never spares a thought for uncle Arthur
And his acute thrombosis of the liver.

Seaside excursion!
Wedded diversion!
Crayfish and crabs
Returning in cabs

I hardly notice pain, so dire my plight
I hardly feel the agony of shame
I notice now that chaos and old night
Have brought an end to my deceiver's game

Call-girls and clippies
Cafés and chippies
A laugh and a smile
At Joe's Jolly Mile.