Lotto Mom

Copyright 1999 R.D. “Jobey” Ellison. All rights reserved.

The taxes are gettin’ higher
And the money’s gettin’ tight
And the bills are flyin’ at her
From the left and from the right
So she takes the last few dollars
And goes to the corner store
And spends it on the lottery
Like every time before

And that is where the money’s gone
‘Cause she’s become a lotto mom
Lotto mom, lotto mom
Why do your days seem so long?

Three men have already left her
‘Cause all the money disappeared
Now she’s left with a half-paid house
And five kids to rear
Frankie needs some lunch money
And she’s got to pay the rent
But Mom just shrugs her shoulders
“Don’t know where the money went”

But we know where the money’s gone
‘Cause she’s become a lotto mom
Lotto mom, lotto mom
Why do your days seem so long?

While you hit the other jackpots
Crossin’ the state line
The children were left all alone
How did you miss the signs?
While you left the children alone
They learned how to swear
And drugs sure aren’t new to them
All ‘cause you weren’t there

But what more can be supposed?
A baby boomer gone off cour’e
She heard again and again as a girl
Their generation would lead into the millennium
And they never learned poetry from prose
But when real life slowed youthful momentum
She and others were left hangin’…
Dreams of glory left unrealized
The numbered balls have caught their eyes
What else is left to place her hopes on?

And that is where the money’s gone
‘Cause she’s become a lotto mom
Lotto mom, lotto mom
Why do the days seem so long?
Lotto mom, lotto mom
(Riches don’t come from fantasy…)
Lotto mom, lotto mom
(Are illusions all you see?…)
Lotto mom, lotto mom
Missus, days don’t have to seem
So endlessly, hopelessly long