Nine Kids in the Family

old man old man,
hobble along,
old man.

how did you become
so old
man.

brother flies airplanes,
just got a new job,
took your sweetie skiing
from the top.

brother has a wife
he don't like no more.

brother
drives a taxi cab
in Kingston,
reads Woolf and Bronte,
is one of the numbers in the
statistics
talking about how undergrads
aren't worth a thing.

brother
is your friend,
your only friend at a time,
your best friend now.
helps you out with money,
gonna help you die one day.

brother's
got a party in his pocket,
an asian bride,
and noone to tell him
how to behave.

then you've got those sisters,
each aware of what alone is like,
had their true loves taken
one by one.
heart attack on the ice,
slow and trying cancer,
dead in a car crash
left her alone getting married,
bearing kids,
living life in the sidelines,
but now she's got someone with
nice hair and big money to keep
her company.

she says i'm a spitting image.

old man old man
how did you become so young.