A QUEUE SONG
A jocular burden rings in my ear
Of Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese;
It tells of good cheer ere food was dear,
Of a time of plenty and peace and ease.
With bread thrown in there was ample fare
In Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese
For men to repair all the wear and tear
Of bodily tissue, though busy as bees.
Carnivorous folk might ask for more
Than Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,
But that was before the stress of war
Had simplified meals with a steady squeeze.
For butter has almost fled from our ken,
And eggs are fetching enormous fees,
And the laying hen is on strike again,
And my grocer has run clean out of cheese.
So I’m bidding good-bye to the old refrain—
It isn’t attuned to times like these—
And I sing this strain as I stand in the rain,
Margarine, rice and potatoes, please!