Step Right Up

So I'm grinning like the Cheshire
Canary that ate the cat
I sang my prose, I tipped my toes
And now I tap my hat

Selling secrets as if I thought
You should think that they should matter
I'm a carnival contraption
I'm the Madder Madcap Hatter

Pay for your ticket, find your seat
Have a cup of tea, m'dear
The theaters filled, the souls are empty
We're all mad here

There's popcorn laced with Thorazine
Gray Matter Flambe on a bun
Bathtubs filled with banana slugs
We're gonna have a whole lot of fun

Check your soul at the door, my dear
Hang it right there with your brother's
Empty your dignity, remove your belt
Through the scanner with the others

Pay for your ticket, find your seat
Have a cup of tea, m'dear
The theaters filled, the souls are empty
We're all mad here

Tattoos and piercings a la mode
Discounts on amputations
Won't feel a thing we feel dancing
In surgically enhanced sensation

The roses are all crocheted here
The poop in the garden plastic
The flies just props from a novelty store
Come trip the implanted dark fantastic

Pay for your ticket, find your seat
Have a cup of tea, m'dear
The theaters filled, the souls are empty
We're all mad here

Follow me down this staircase, dear
Music is playing, house lights dimmed
Don't worry, your eyes will adjust to the dark
Hurry -- the show is about to begin

So now I'm grinning like the Cheshire
Canary that ate the cat
I sang my prose, I tipped my toes
And now I tap my hat

Pay for your ticket, find your seat
Have a cup of tea, m'dear
The theaters filled, the souls are empty
We're all mad here

 © John Kennan fall 2013