Cold Comfort Flowers

Peace sign on the window

Japanese car

You will remember the pap on the radio

Big blue policeman says stay where you are

Surrender your Chinese arms

Rock show Romeo

Black and white shoes

Strawberry haircut, in fist-pumping prime

Scrape off the dross, keep what you can use

And leave the weaker ones behind

They step outside to step out slow

In vain trying to find a hole they can't outgrow

They evolve in time

Wind finely on the vine

Climbing toward the spots in the sun

An unwelcome fate

May ferry all away

But cold comfort flowers

Will bloom and decay

Pink clouds, summer sorrow

Oceanside swales

If you don't feel pretty

With your face in the tide

Well, file your complaint in weary detail

And tell the little people you tried

They step outside to step out slow

In vain trying to find a hole they can't outgrow

They evolve in time

Wind finely on the vine

Climbing toward the spots in the sun

An unwelcome fate

May ferry all away

But cold comfort flowers

Will blossom and fade