Ron Sexsmith

From A Few Streets Over

Ron Sexsmith


From a few streets over 
Before the sun goes down 
You can hear it coming closer 
To this dislocated shoulder 
of an old and crooked town 
That's when the ice cream van rolls around 

But in the land of plenty 
The money here is tight 
The children here are many 
(and if you do have any) 
He will park his van outside 
There waits the ice cream man with the cold dark eyes 

For it's not a "Rockwell" summer 
or a world of "Dick and Jane" 
And how it makes you shudder 
Like you used to hide from thunder 
When you hear him coming down the lane 
And you condemn the ice cream man to the world of flame 

A sickly, sweet wind is blowing 
Across the fields of hell 
A licorice night's unfolding 
Near a grave sight a corroded 
old and burnt out carousel 
Here lies the ice cream man, the devil treats him well