You could have gone off the Bloor St. viaduct

i could have been run down in the street

you could have got botulism anytime

i could have gone overboard into the sea



Anything can happen

to put out the light,

is it any wonder

i don't want to say goodnight?



I could have been hit by a falling pane of glass

you could have had shark teeth write "finit"

we could have been nailed by some vigilante type

in a case of mistaken identity -- obviously



Anything can happen

to put out the light

is it any wonder

i don't want to say goodnight?



We could have been lynched and tarred and feathered --

been on a plane that crashed in flames --

could have done the neutron melt together

but here we are just the same!



You could have been daggered in the dead of night

You could have been gassed inside your car.

I could have been walking in the open fields

and been drilled through the head by a shooting star



Anything can happen

to put out the light

is it any wonder

i don't want to say goodnight?



(Toronto, December 29, 1980.)