Circus by Tom Waits

We put up our tent on a dark
green knoll, outside of town
by the train tracks
and there was a seagull dump
Topping the bill was Horse Face Ethel
and her Marvelous Pigs in satin
We pounded our steaks in the ground
all powder brown
And the branches spread
like scary fingers reaching
We were in a pasture in Kankakee
And one eyed Myra
the queen of the galley
who baby sat the camel and the ostrich
She looked at me squinty
with her one good eye
as she bottle fed an Orangutan named Tripod
Now how Tripod got his name
is not appropriate for children
and then there was
Yodeling Elaine
the Queen of the Air
She had a dollar sign medallion
about as big as a dinner plate
around her neck
and a tiny bubble of spittle
around her nostril
and a little rusty tear
for she had lassoed
and lost another tipsy sailor
and over in the burnt yellow tent
by the frozen tractor
the music was like electric sugar
And Zuzu Bolin played “Stavin’ Chain”
with Mighty Tiny on the saw
and he leaned his head back
with a mouth full of gold teeth
And they played lopsided heart
By the time they finished Moanin Low
I was wild eyed
And Doctor Bliss slipped me 
a Preparation and I fell asleep with
Livery Stable Blues in my ear
“Give me a bit of Livery Stable Blues guys,
Play it nice, play it for me and Molly”
As me and Molly Hoey
we drank Pruno and Koolaid
she had a Tattoo gun
that was made out of a cassette motor
and a guitar string 
and she soaked a hanky in 3 roses
and she rubbed it on the spot
and she drew a rickety heart and 
a bent arrow
and it hurt like hell!
and Funeral Wells spun Poodle Murphy 
on the target
And he threw his hardware
only once in Sheboygan did he miss
Only once, Jesus
It took of just a minuscule piece of her ear
But she never let him forget it, Women!
They were doing two shows 
and she had a high fever
and probably added to
her frustration,
her anxiety,
her depression
Tip Little told her “Hey if you’re smart,
You’ll leave the bum, leave the bum”
You’ve got to leave the bum, leave the bum
leave the bum, leave the bum, leave the bum”
but and she said “he came and fetched me
last time I run”
but I’d like to hammer this ring 
into a bullet and I wish 
I had some whiskey and a gun
“Oh, leave the bum, you gotta leave the bum
Leave the bum”