Tonight

You had me packed like an artefact
In the cotton of your ambition
But there was something in my condition
That made me long for a little more
You had me squeezed for at least
The last two years of marriage
But some mistaken adage
Made you blind to what was in store

I’ll be waiting up
When you get home tonight

I made a cat-flap for my jealousy
So it could roam where it wanted
It had a sorry tail that it flaunted
But every night it still came home
(Unlike you) but I made do
With those slivers of deceit
Those little tributes left at my feet
For which your conscience will atone

I’ll be waiting up
When you get home tonight

Now I’m so fraught and overwrought
Like a bird among the rafters
But it ain’t laughter that I’m after
Just a grim and knowing sneer
As for you, when I’m through
You’ll be sore down to your ligaments
There ain’t no love without disfigurement
I’ve known no fondness without fear

I’ll be waiting up
When you get home tonight