The Battered Bride

The Battered Bride

by Declan May

Those grey old seadogs with the razorblade whiskers

And the verdigris grins that their fathers once wore

In The Battered Bride, you’ll be welcome here

Whether you’re a begger or a buggar or a sixpenny whore

There’s a girl from Warsaw, they call her Martha

And everyone says she smells like she’s dead

She never washes, her clothes are rotten

Yet many a man’d gladly sleep in her bed

In The Battered Bride, they talk about Jonas

Who walks an hour to confession everyday

He drowned seven cats to stop them screeching

And his mother too because she got in the way

The glasses are cracked, the food is rancid

But theres chat to be had and its warm inside

The landlord’s a crook and his wife has a mistress

But you’ll always be welcome at The Battered Bride