Sparkly Boots Waiting

Mum said you can’t wear gumboots to a wedding Dad said the

same, like they’d rehearsed the line So I packed the sparkly rainbow

pair anyway Then the paddock turned to soup and they all changed

their mind Flood zone,

they said, everybody wear the ugly ones Tried to stop me wearing

the fancy pair I’d found Proof no one listens till the mud

shows up Then they want my idea with the glitter scraped off

When will it be my time

Standing off to the side

Watching two

people promise forever In a paddock that can’t stay dry

I clapped, I smiled,

I didn’t make a scene Kept the scream in my throat where

it always lives

When will it be my time

Lord, when will it be mine

Somebody behind me whispered there’s a spider Right there on my back

in the middle of I do

I flicked it off like a good girl at a wedding Didn’t

holler, didn’t ruin what wasn’t mine to ruin

Wonder if he’d have forgiven the screaming Guess I’ll never know,

I stayed polite

That’s the joke of being the one in the sparkly boots You

keep the peace and you miss your own night

When will it be my time

Standing off to the side

Watching two

people promise forever In a paddock that can’t stay dry

I clapped, I smiled,

I didn’t make a scene Kept the scream in my throat where

it always lives When will it be my time

Lord, when will it be mine

I ain’t cursing their vows

I’m just tired of being weather

The girl they call when the ground gives way Then tell to

stand still for the photograph

Rainbow boots in brown water

That’s the whole picture of my life so far

When will it be my time

Not the guest, not the warning,

not the punchline When the boots are for dancing not for flood

When somebody looks at me and says that’s enough I’ll still clap

for the ones who got there first I’ll still flick the spider

and I won’t make it worse But I’m asking now,

I’m done being fine

When will it be my time

Coffeebreak’s over

— when will it be mine