DOING HANDSTANDS AGAINST THE OLD CHURCH WALL
Well, I’m still a young girl
And pretty, I am told
And though I do the kindest things
There’s one at which they say I’m too bold.
After church service of an evening
Whether dark or light
I nip around the corner
And do handstands against the old church wall.
‘This is sacred ground you know,
What are you doing, girl?’
I reply, ‘I’m doing handstands against the old church wall.’
Well, I can’t see any wrong in it
And I enjoy it so
I place my hands on the cold soft grass
And up in the air I go.
Sometimes my feet don’t reach the wall
So I try again
I suppose I must do nine or ten
Just handstands against the old church wall.
It’s Holy ground I realise
But surely I can’t be bad
I’m only doing handstands against the old church wall.
‘Surprised at you, my girl,’ they say
Don’t they really know
How it passes time away
That sometimes goes so slow.
And yet, for a while, time stops there
And I go back in years
To when I was only five or six
And did handstands against this old church wall.
Maybe in years to come along
I’ll wander ‘round this way
I hope I’ll remember with gladness
Doing handstands against the old church wall.
Paul Dominic Gray 22nd July 1974