[Corneac]

I am the breadwinner, and I won some bread,
I rolled the dice, once, thrice,
“Snake eyes, snake eyes,
and the loaf was mine,

I celebrated with a drink, or two,
and the Coppa rolled up,
the drunkard, the crew,
I shouted a round,
One, or two,
and by the time I was through,
my pockets were empty,
gone was the jingle, the chink,
and the barman, said, closing time
with a paunch red faced wink,

Stumbling home, the streetlights
glowered down,
But the dawn came to save me,
Put them out, said I was a breadwinner
and reproved them
with a blindin’ frown,

The fly screen clattered loudly,
louder than I’d hoped,
There she was in a night gown,
all wrinkles and the like the streetlights,
blinded by that frown,

But no sun came to save,
as her voice arched like a crow,
hitting me square, my heartstring,
plucked, like a bow,

I’m leaving, she said,
as I put down my loaf,
and tears came like torrents,
as I fixed my eyes to the stove,

When the car screeched away,
with the kids both in tow,
“But I am the breadwinner,
and I won you a loaf,”