On the Flip of a Coin - The Streets

From the point he gazed from the choice was made, but 'walk the cave or the

shore?'

The oily cave seemed to breathe on him through gravestone jaws

His little hand grasped in anguish as he weighed up his coin

Somewhere a blue-eyed girl in the world is just waiting for a boy

Footprints trailed as if trod by slaves up to the grey cave floor

But not one graze from anything ever escaping this fort

So with coin on hand his joy came back when ordered to take the shore

'Why on earth', as he wandered the warmth, 'am I obeying this coin?'

Turn your life on the flip of this coin

Turn upside a choice you’d normally avoid

And promise me you’ll follow what it says

Whatever it says

Again, walk within the trusted beach or swim the swell of the sea?

And again the scarier alternative looked like certain death to he He’d never learnt to skill of swimming — it never occurred to be very easy

And again he winced as he flipped the coin and it twirled to his feet

'How is this sane?'

he blamed the coin now aiming for the waves

As he hesitated at the swirl of water as it raged and rained

Blue-eyed girls were waiting and he was drowning in the spray

Blue-eyed girls he should have been acquainted with but for shouting and

flailing

Turn your life on the flip of this coin

Turn upside a choice you’d normally avoid

And promise me you’ll follow what it says

Whatever it says

He finally slugs it back to land feeling chewed-up and foolish

Empties his pockets on the sand spewing a pool each

Staggers back to his dad who’s too cool to be So he says 'why did you have me follow this stupid rule, please?'

To be honest little fellow I’ll tell you

I was just as afraid as you

But you said you wanted to get with people and places ever new

And I got a bit scared of the fate of my baby son’s future

So I invented a reason to see if you could ever make do As soon as you appeared behind that rock looking angry at me

I soon realised what a hell of a man you’ve ended up being

I knew you’d worked out how to swim, which I hadn’t had in me And I stand as a companion of you, proudest a man has ever been

Turn your life on the flip of this coin

Turn upside a choice you’d normally avoid

And promise me you’ll follow what it says

Whatever it says