Minstrel in the Gallery

The minstrel in the gallery

Looked down upon the smiling faces

He met the gazes, observed the spaces

Between the old men's cackle

He brewed a song of love and hatred

Oblique suggestions and he waited

He polarized the pumpkin-eaters

Static-humming, panel-beaters

Freshly day, glowed factory cheaters

Salaried and collar-scrubbing

He titillated men of action

Belly warming, hands still rubbing

On the parts they never mention

He pacified the nappy-suffering

Infant-bleating, one-line jokers

TV documentary makers, overfed and undertakers

Sunday paper, backgammon players

Family-scarred and women-haters

Then he called the band down to the stage

And he looked at all the friends he'd made

The minstrel in the gallery

Looked down upon the smiling faces

He met the gazes, observed the spaces

In-between the old men's cackle

And he brewed a song of love and hatred

Oblique suggestions and he waited

He polarized the pumpkin-eaters

Static-humming, panel-beaters

The minstrel in the gallery

Looked down on the rabbit-run

And he threw away his looking-glass

He saw his face in everyone

He titillated men of action

Belly warming, hands still rubbing

On the parts they never mention

Salaried and collar-scrubbing

He pacified the nappy-suffering

Infant-bleating, one-line jokers

TV documentary makers

Overfed and undertakers

Sunday paper, backgammon players

Family-scarred and women-haters

Then he called the band down to the stage

And he looked at all the friends he'd made

The minstrel in the gallery

Looked down on the rabbit-run

And threw away his looking-glass

He saw his face in everyone

The minstrel in the gallery

Looked down upon the smiling faces

The minstrel gathered

The minstrel in the gallery