Martha

Martha sits by the telephone
Hoping someone will call.
She's on her own again.
She has so much she can talk about
And there'll be gossip she can hark about again.

If you stumble home drunk and loud
To an empty room with no one waiting there,
Is your life a black and broken cloud?
Then Martha will feed upon your despair.

See the curtain move, she watches you
Listening through the broken walls and rotting floors.
Don't make a slip, Martha catches you
Hiding on landings and peering 'round the doors.

If you'd enjoy yourself and laugh and sing
Then Martha will disapprove and shake her head.
No matter what the day ahead will bring
Martha will circulate each word you said.

Like the vulture Martha hovers high
Waiting to pounce upon your shattered dreams.
Her twisted smile and her nodding head
Disguise her haggard world of lies and schemes.

Who was it took and broke her young girl's heart
And branded it and burned her mind?
Who was it tore her life apart
And left it for the rats to find?

Martha sits by the telephone
Hoping someone will call.
She's on her own again.
She has so much that she can talk about
And there'll be gossip she can harp about again.