Alain's Burden

Alain's Burden

Everything is out of focus
Wand and scepter, hocus-pocus
Soup pot call your cousin cauldron
We need help, a spell, a pardon

The city came and cut off limbs
One arm, one leg, a foot, and then
They say it’s painless, surgical 
Je ne suis pas d’accord, mon cœur

For every slice and cut they make
I lose a bit of heart and grace
If truth be told and I am me 
It’s me that wants to fell this tree

The waiters gone, some sick, some quit
The kitchen staff, I can’t remit
Just me, my wife, and daughter now
We’re spent, used up, and this is how

These thoughts they swirl inside my skull
What benefit am I to cull
By staying here and fighting this
This mess, this plague, this fucking shit

Should forty years be weight enough 
To tip the scales and call my bluff
I’ve taken all I can withstand
Pandemic, riots, bat in hand

But what would come from chopping down
This tree that’s me, est trop gourmande 
No tree, no branches left to be
Safe for my leaves, my children three

For now I’m here and smile I will
A circus clown I sometimes feel
The show they say it must go on 
and on, and on, and on, and on

So wand and scepter, my old friends 
Conjure faith and hope and then
We’ll stage our play for one more day
Bonjour, bonsoir, et s'il vous plaît!