Dial Tone
I smile as you walk away.
You don't even look back.
Your mind is now on other things,
On bank accounts and puppet kings,
On pinstripe suits, weekday meetings,
And how to keep your life on track.
I've seen you just three months from now
Face falling like a stone,
I've seen your open-mouthed distress
As all the hatred you suppressed
Came rushing forward to confess
Your sins to that sweet dial tone.
You smile as you walk away,
And don't even look back,
But neither do you look ahead,
Just close your eyes and down your head
And concentrate on where you tread
That's how you keep your life on track.
I've seen you just three months from now,
I've seen your sweet dismay,
As you begin to realise
That all you value, all you prize
Is sturdy as a robe of lies
Against a windy autumn day.
So smile as you walk away,
It's all that you can do,
But take on board these things I say,
That when it comes your turn to pay
And life takes everything away
All it will leave behind is you.
Remember that, three months from now,
Face falling like a stone,
That your designer evening wear,
Your family, your stocks and shares
As far as fickle fate will care
Are fair trade for a dial tone.