World Gone Wrong

My thoughts go far as I sit alone at the bar

I wandered to somewhere off second avenue

To have just one drink beyond having to think about the world outside

Suddenly the room fades black, and a spotlight points out to the back

At a man in lace to match the makeup on his face

But taunts made aloud and laughs from the crowd make me turn away

But he crosses the room, void of form and age

As the bar man calls out “it’s time for our queen to take the stage”

And she sings La, la, la, la, la

She sings La, la, la, la, la

Like a song for the refugees, a song for the nobody’s, a song like she plays just for me

She sings a hopeful song for a world gone wrong

It fills the air, as the lonely angel sings her prayer

Wrapped around accounts of the Alabama town

That brought her up and then down, her smile fighting a frown with every word

Mom died young, leaving her tight-knit family unstrung

And dad too hurt to deal with a son in a silly skirt

So he shipped ‘em off east, and letters from him ceased comin’ years ago

And I feel my heart mend seeing how

She shows off her dress and screams “Well dad, look at me now”

And sings La, la, la, la, la

She sings La, la, la, la, la

Like a song for the outcasts, a song for the down and out, a song that dares to shout--

“I’m a nighttime star and still twice the man you are”

She sings a song for the hopeless, in need of a win

A song for the lovers loving in sin

A song for the innocent whose faith is in vain

A song for the immigrant who changes his name

A song for the rejects, ejected to the side

A song for the creatures that God tries to hide

A song for the abused, misused and worse

A song for every lost soul in the whole universe

A song to play for a world that’s done nothing but throw me away

And she sings anyway

La, la, la, la, la

A song for the broken, a song for each given heart that’s given back torn apart

The only hopeful song in a world gone wrong

Alex Shelbourne