Each bedtime makes me a night-clown,
Minty paste seltzers every tooth.
Puppetry for sleep at sundown,
Ends in a circus, dreams of youth.
Tamed at knee in dress of cotton,
Each bedtime makes me a night-clown.
Farce forgives day-gains ill-gotten,
Hangs on bedpost the big-top crown.
Smile bones polished, no longer brown,
Gaslights flicker, still, no romance.
Each bedtime makes me a night-clown,
Illusionist trick, sleepy trance.
Ticket prices have now been paid,
The audience has been sat down.
Soft as applause, my head is laid.
Each bedtime makes me a night-clown.
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