Experience

"It's not the despair, Laura. I can stand the despair. It's the hope."
Michael Frayn, Clockwise


They say such things sometimes do take place
You never know your luck, you see
I keep it by me, just in case

My pockets fill with paper on lottery days
I am lured by dreams of swift luxury
They say such things sometimes do take place

A rabbit's foot's supposed to be my secret ace
Not lucky, as it's proved, for him or me
I keep it by me, just in case.

A travelling encounter may end in an embrace
A brief exchange on the way from A to B
They say such things sometimes do take place

It's not something I've ever had to face
I bought a condom back in '93
I keep it by me, just in case.

Incense and plainsong fill the sacred space
Demanding an answer from the deity
They say such things sometimes do take place

Silence, I've found, is all my prayer repays
Although I've made a bauble of my rosary
I keep it by me, just in case.

A feature noted by students of the human race
Is the survival of hope against all probability
They say such things sometimes do take place
I keep it by me, just in case.


Martin Locock, 2002