Bert, what happened to "size doesn't matter?" ;-)
The one above clocks in at just over 2 minutes when I extemporise a tune. As far as people nodding off during a song, if it's got a good chorus, I'd like it to last for a while, and choruses adds quite a bit of time onto a song.

Night Owl, I agree with McGrath about poems not necessarily making good songs. The words have got to be singable and have to fall in the right places to emphasize the rhythm. I think Kipling put that "punch" into his poetry, and so did C.F. Smith. Notes and syllables are held in songs, and they aren't when you read a poem. Some words are just difficult to sing because they twist your tongue or interfere the flow of air.

I don't know if what I wrote will sound decent when I get around to writing the tune. It's a lot easier for me to write the tune to the words than the other way around. I don't know why that's so, and I know it's not true for everybody. I have another song I'm writing. I'm trying to come up with words to fit a tune that's already done, and it's HARD!