A Night in the Nursery

Come hither, come hither to me under the canopy
Pull the sheets up high; another milky sky
There are oranges and bananas and coffee with cream
Try to be patient now while your brother tells his dream

I remember a storm and a picnic by the lake
I remember the mess a little anger can make
I eat my breakfast like the food at a wake
Like a little lamb

Put me in the car and take me to my bed
There's a train in my blood and it's ringing in my head
In a bedroom so dark, a friend is a'nappin'
In the hallway there's a bark, and a cane is a'tappin'
On the floorboards

Carriage lamps flicker past the docks and the crooked mast
And the palsied and the plagued in the streets of the ash
They were children, they were singing all their sailor's carols
Now the hard luck faces 'round the fire

So put me in my car and take me to my bed
There's a train in my bloodstream and it's ringin' in my head
It's the sun through the slats that keeps us coming back
And the morning is an overripe melancholy dog by the fireplace

A cradle, a cradle
A kiss and a fable
The den mothers hover all around you
The belle of the ball
The wine's turned to gall