(for Captain Les)
That little house is the madman’s house
With an anchor in the garden,
And the madman’s flag flaps about like a rag
Richly sewn with a song of pardon.
All aboard the jaunty Narrenschiff
With its crew of startling tenants:
There the madman bleeds and then tells his beads
To the old pirates of penance.
What can you do with a drunken sailor?
Some doors won’t open again.
So he sleeps on the grass with an empty glass,
And the water tank dreams of the rain.