Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  

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Notes: by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1967 by the author. From page 87 of the collection "Inscriptions on a Ginger Jar," printed in the songbook The Muse of Parker Street.

It's not the world I thought it was.
It once seemed fair,
Singing with laughter everywhere,
And all on fire
With spring bloom and the gleam
Of young desire,
And filled with song.
But I was wrong.
It's not like that at all.
Sunlight is empty,
And there's such darkness in the day,
I cannot figure any clear design,
Nor find my way.

It's not the world's fault,
It's mine.
It's mine and theirs
Who fed me dreams
Instead
Of coarse bread,
And taught me how to hear
The music of stream and bird,
Instead of how to cry
Without being heard;
Who had me learn verse
Instead of how to curse.