Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk

I had a silver penny and an apricot tree
And I said to the sailor on the white quay
‘Sailor O sailor will you bring me
If I give you my penny and my apricot tree
‘A fez from Algeria an Arab drum to beat
A little gilt sword and a parakeet?’
And he smiled and he kissed me
As strong as death and I saw his red tongue
And I felt his sweet breath
‘You may keep your penny
And your apricot tree
And I’ll bring your presents back from sea’
O the ship dipped down on the rim of the sky
And I waited while three
Long summers went by then one steel morning
On the white quay i saw a grey ship
Come in from sea slowly she came
Across the bay for her flashing rigging
Was shot away all round her wake
The seabirds cried and flew in and out
Of the hole in her side slowly she came
In the path of the sun and I heard the sound
Of a distant gun and a stranger came running
Up to me from the deck of the ship
And he said, said he ‘O are you the boy
Who would wait on the quay
With the silver penny and the apricot tree?
‘I’ve a plum-coloured fez
And a drum for thee
And a sword and a parakeet
From over the sea’ ‘O where is the sailor
With bold red hair? And what is that volley
On the bright air? ‘O where are the other
Girls and boys? And why have you brought me
Children’s toys?’