Martin

Martin was serious
Thoughtful and sharp as a tack

He’d always land feet first
And water ran right
Off his back

Extremely well liked
He was handsome and nobody’s fool

So eyebrows went flying
When he brought
Daddy’s shotgun to school

Don’t be annoyed with me dear
We’re long on bravado
And short on the beer

I may not have made my own choice
But I’m proud to be thought of as

One of the boys

We’re having a meeting and
You’re all invited to stay

We’ll send out for pizza
If anyone’s leaning that way

The topic today is survival
And I’ve got the floor

So who’ll talk to newsmen
And who’ll need
Some help through the door

Never had time for the teams
Was too busy sorting
Through recurring dreams

Never thought much of the noise
But was proud to be thought of as

One of the boys

Didn’t want to be nobody’s dog
Begging for scraps on a leash
Couldn’t see my hand through the fog
Couldn’t find no shells at the beach

Now I’ve been handed a light
Though everything’s coming out black
Looks like my daddy was right
But I’ve got some bills to pay back

The scene was confusion
And as somewhere a window blew out

He’s flipping his lid
I heard every reporter there shout

The troubled young gunman
Held eighty policemen at bay

And how many children it inside
Were hurt no one could say

The marksman who ended the siege
Was though hailed as a hero
More sorry than pleased

I never saw more than one choice
When the bomb started ticking in

One of the boys