Wake up, mother, can't you see
I'm still waiting for you to play with me;
Ring around the rose-e
Pocket filled with pose-e.

Breakfast passed while you still dreamt
About whatever you saw as you slept,
but daddy didn't eat
Daddy cried while you slept.

Wake up, mother, can't you hear
The siren's howling in my ear,
But you still sleep within that bed
While daddy held you very near.

Years have come and years have gone
And everything still stays the same.
I visit you, mother, every week
while you dream the dead dream.

But, wake up, mother, can't you see
Your nightmare is my reality,
But the silence of the cemetery
Quells the tears I bleed.