Where I Belong

Ginny said good-bye this afternoon As far as I can tell She can't bear the good-bye evenings Or the morning afters of farewell She says, "Here you are another one to whose back I'm saying cheers. It's like a death in the family and it's been going on for years."

And so I'll cast my leaving shadow And I'll be Canadian But distance won't decide what matters To the Hard Rock's loving son And when I'm thinking of St. John's I'll bring her closer with a song I don't know where I'm going but I know where I belong

Don't get the old man started Or I'll have to hide him from the rum If we can keep his mind from '49 He'll keep having fun Oh, it's not the kids he's cursing Though I'm his third to leave He's mad at Mr. Smallwood And it's a parent's right to grieve

So let's take a moment's silence for our dear departed souls Let's fly our flags at half their mast As another young man goes The laughter of the children Supplanted by the rolling ghosts Another tide surrenders To a far and foreign coast

I told Mom I'd stay closer to the cousins Who beat the path from our front door One right after the other and they won't be back no more But the thing I think I fear the most She whispered in my ear Is being the last flower in the garden With no one left to care