break even

Break Even



Don't bail out that Ship of State,
Though the sails are tattered, scattered in her wake
She's pulled too hard to starboard, harbour's swallowed by the mist.....
If she goes down or runs aground who'll be around to hear the sound
Will tomorrow ever remember this ?

When those 'lucky stars' cease to shine
The compass is broken and you're travelling blind
And you find this is not what it's cracked up to be
If it's all about 'who ends up with more,
       who leaves their tracks along the shore'
Don't count me out, that old road hasn't seen the last of me

Rummage through wreckage of damaged dreams
          and the triage of broken exposure
Scavengers prowl a bandaged scene
          behind badges of foreclosure

We might break even, we might not even break at all
Maybe just bend a bit, or whatever fits
Somewhere before the fall

Those suits have shiney asses with 'kick me' tatoos
The life-line's tied to an anvil where they hammered out the blues
On another trail of tears so far from home
Where Wall Street and Main do collide,
       down-on-luck gamblers beg for another ride
Leaving the children to witness witless bubbles bursting in the foam

Rifle through this baggage of raffled hope
             at the I.C.U. of some poverty ward
While the bottom drops out from under scaffold rope
             and leaves you hanging like a sword

We might break even, we might not even break at all
Maybe just bend a bit or whatever fits
Somewhere before the fall