"Shelly Is the Goddess of Angst"

by Joseph McCombs

I'd come to beware
Her contemplative stare
She'd never share the story behind it.
Thinking I didn't care,
She'd only say, "It's there,
You just don't know where to find it."

          I kiss her on the cheek -- she thinks it's one of my pranks;
          Oh, Shelly -- Shelly is the goddess of angst.

Ephedrine princess
Offers faint glimpses
Of the woman she once hoped to be.
She wants me to play
A man who went away
But he does not look a lot like me.

          I tell her I love her -- she mumbles "thanks";
          Poor Shelly -- Shelly is the goddess of angst.

She looks a bit queasy
'Cause life's not that easy
Once you close your Vogue magazine.
I guess I will let
Her to her cigarettes --
They're more comfort than I've ever been.

          In their desperation, wedding bells 'cross the nation all clank
          For Shelly -- Shelly is the goddess of angst.

So maybe I lied
When I told her I've tried;
I've still got some pride left in me.
So I'm not by her side
Instead I'm hitching a ride
On a night when it's rainy and windy.

          We all learn to live with unending hunger pangs,
          But Shelly -- Shelly is the goddess of angst.

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