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All's Well That Ends Well - Misionera

from The Garden of Terrors and Delights by The Starry Eyes

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Original poem by Cleveland Wall, music by Fernando Bustamante, performed by Michael Wall

lyrics

All’s Well That Ends Well

On a bitter cold November day
a figure bent and old and grey
wending its weary, woesome way
home to a hovel in mock-apricot afternoon
leaned into the wind, which meant to importune.

Oh, the wicked wind, icy fingers and all,
tried to wrest from her shoulders the threadbare shawl
that was her only comfort at all.
But though it clutched and wrenched and tore,
it could not win the shawl she wore.

And if it failed, ‘twas not for want of malice;
there never breathed a wind so cruel and callous
as that antagonizing poor, old Alice,
who, with some difficulty, gained the road
that led to her humble, tumble-down abode.

Waving hello, she saw from afar,
her half-hinged door flapped shut and ajar
with a verve which, in a door, is bizarre.
By and by she ambled through the gate,
which, being nonexistent, was not great.

She crossed the threshold and shuddered to see
that an army of ants—two thousand, maybe three—
had diminished her pantry to such a degree
that all that remained as her stock and store
were a few scattered crumbs on the bare dirt floor.

And that being that, and being thus distressed,
she exacted a penalty from the unwelcome guests,
to wit: with her thumb, she crushed the little pests.
And since they were the only food she had,
she ate them! And you know, they weren’t half bad.

 
She found them quite delicious, in fact,
in soups and puddings, as an entrée or just a snack.
Her grumbly tummy at last was content; nothing lacked.
And her culinary skills grew keener:
it was she who invented the first all-ant wiener.

Oh, she ate ant kebabs and ant pâtés,
fricasseed ants and ant flambées—
Fourmis niçoises! Fourmis à la polonaise!
So rich grew her diet, alas, that it gave her the gout.
She suffered briefly; in a month or two it took her out.

Then all the little ants danced and rejoiced!
in unison their jubilance was voiced
and they all gathered round poor Alice to hoist
her up a millimeter high
and carry her off, bidding good riddance—and good-bye.

The wind, now with a casual air, it being May,
sauntered up to Alice where she lay
and lightly took the useless shawl away.
The wind was victorious. The anti-hero won again.
And Alice was in no position to complain.

credits

from The Garden of Terrors and Delights, released January 11, 2020
Voice: Cleveland Wall; guitar: Michael Wall. Recorded at Studio 11 in Bethlehem, PA. Sound engineer: Justin Merritt. Cover art: William Christine.

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The Starry Eyes Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The Starry Eyes combine original poems with classical guitar repertoire for a strangely compelling dance in which the two pieces waver between convergence and juxtaposition. Guitarist Michael Wall and poet Cleveland Wall have been performing together since 2011. ... more

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