We moved into a house
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on twelvth avenue
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it was a rising damp
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with an alley for a view
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A skin of peeling paint
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and an attic full of mice
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to turn the shower on
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you had to flush the toilet twice
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At night it creaked and groaned
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and swayed in the wind
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the bugs were drunk on mold
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and the cockroaches grinned
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With an alley full of cats
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rutting through the night
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and a front yard full of rats
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but it was home to us despite
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knocking on the door
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the old landlord came
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rotten to the core
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knocking on the door
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the first of the month
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always wanting more
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If we knew when we moved in
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what only lay ahead
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saying home sweet home
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would be be better left unsaid
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cracks in the ceiling
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whiskey stains on the floor
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the ghosts of all of those
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who had lived there before
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pigeons messed the roof
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and it leaked when it rained
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if something ever broke
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the landlord never came
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and to call him a bastard
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would be a compliment
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we'd only hear from him
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when he came to raise the rent
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and when we'd had enough
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we backed a truck on the lawn
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we loaded up the half-ton
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and by midnight we were gone
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and when the landlord came
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for his money once again
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all he heard was an echo
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and never again
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-----------------
|
The Old Landlord
|
| The Town Pants |
