Privacy is a precious commodity. If you live in the country you don’t expect neighbors to build so close you can see the spinach caught in their teeth. Sometimes, communication is non-verbal.

The Battle of the Skulls (Shades of Battle of New Orleans)

He came from the City

and he built a fancy house

Brought along his family,

three boys and his spouse.

On a knob on the summit

of a sky-reaching hill

He built a starter mansion

and he made it fill the bill.

Refrain …

He hired a crew and the trucks

they kept a-comin’

There isn’t near as many

as there was awhile ago

Now that’s it’s done and

the structure’s up and runnin’

It roosts on the summit

like a cock about to crow.

The roof is made of steel;

you can see it brightly glowin’

From nearly half a mile away,

it sure makes a showin’

The timbered walls are plastered up

with lichen-covered rock

Picture windows everywhere,

you don’t even have to knock.

Refrain …

He hired a crew and the trucks

they kept a-comin’

There isn’t near as many

as there was awhile ago

Now that’s it’s done and

the structure’s up and runnin’

It roosts on the summit

like a cock about to crow.

The deck’s made of stone

as smooth as baby buns

Where he looks at the river

and is proud of what he’s done

In his castle on the mountain,

he’s made himself the King

But his house is in the face

of another human being.

Refrain …

He hired a crew and the trucks

they kept a-comin’

There isn’t near as many

as there was awhile ago

Now that’s it’s done and

the structure’s up and runnin’

It roosts on the summit

like a cock about to crow.

King taped some flags

on the neighbor’s cattleguard

You’d a thought there was a trumpet

a-playin’ in his yard

So the neighbor thought awhile

and then a strategy was born

She gathered up a bunch of skulls,

each had a pair of horns.

Refrain …

He hired a crew and the

trucks they kept a-comin’

There isn’t near as many

as there was awhile ago

Now that’s it’s done and

the structure’s up and runnin’

It roosts on the summit

like a cock about to crow.

The bare naked skulls look fine

upon the boundary fence

An environmental decoration;

somehow it made King tense

He said he thought it impolite

to put the skulls in place

Where he would have to see them

close, personal, in his face.

Refrain …

Well, he fussed and he moaned

and his forehead made a frown

He insisted and complained

that the skulls they had to go

So the neighbor moved them all

to another piece of fence

(And the pickup’s bringing more –

twill make a better show)!