One More Spoonful

greed gave way to a dying need

as he woke up on the run

he shook the snake from his warn out boot

and the frost off his gun

headed down to Ketchikan town

settin’ up for a medicine show, he’ll sell

Lydia Pink, a snake-oil drink

his pretty bottles all in a row

he’s even got Fontaine’s balm of a thousand flowers

it will cure all your pain

and might even bring some rain

and some have sworn it gave them supernatural powers

take a spoonful to calm your fears

to open up your mind and wash it clear

two will mend a broken heart and dry your tears

there seems to be a lot more of those fallin’ down ‘round here

            elbow to elbow, move in ear to ear

put the short in the front, and the tall in the rear

it will cure your disease and the ache in your knee,

i have in this bottle the magical key

the potions that he sold them

settle deep into their brain

it kept the skin from crawling

but it only grazed the pain

so they take another swallow

of their deluded lives

never noticing the dying ghost

trapped behind their hollow eyes

one more spoonful to disappear

two more to drown the cries and lies of the insincere

escape into the drop of a falling tear

there seems to be a lot more of them fallin’ down ‘round here

they gather round this simple town

and they trust in what the label says

if you dare get yourself some balm of a thousand flowers

come on down gather round

don’t pay attention to the sound

when they cry out loud

one last spoonful to disappear

to drown the cries and lies of the insincere

escape into the drop of a falling tear

there seems to be a lot more of them fallin’ ‘round down here

           a spoonful to her and one for him

there seems to be a lot more of them fallin’ round here

           to the howling little boy weak and thin

i see a lot more of us fallin’ down round here

           just open wide and take it down

           take one for yourself and pass it around

           watch the horizon
           say goodbye to the sun
           close your eyes
           this day is done

Copyright, David & Loren Laue, 2016