The Pub - Paul Heaton

The men brought the cues the women stayed away

the place was barely alive.

All we ever needed was a lamp post or a tree

All we ever needed was a place to come and drink

We were park bench heroes.

Nearly (?)

Not zeroes

We’d come and drink

(?) one flying high over a graveyard

where an angel had spread out her wings,

flashing her teeth in some angelical smile

and some not so angelical things.

(?) burn in hell at the bottom

with a message in Latin or Greek.

Something like the meek shall inherit the earth

but the strong will then inherit the meek

Go on now go, walk out the door.

Karaoke night came and went around 1994.

A new landlady breathed some life in 1996

and we watched as it evaporated just inches from her lips.

We were park bench heroes.

Nearly (?)

Not zeroes

We’d come and drink

(?) one flying high over a graveyard

where an angel had spread out her wings,

flashing her teeth in some angelical smile

and some not so angelical things.

when a church choir suddenly appears from the jukebox singing this incredible

song

Blessed are the weak and the two (?)

When there’s nothing much at stake for the strong.

A new landlord and land lady took the helm in 2006

Steered us close to rocky shores almost sunk this ship

and just like all the others they left us there to list

Park bench heroes are rarely missed.