William And His Mother Visit The Museum - Richard Dawson

I had a wonderful day today

I haven’t smiled so much in years

Every day has been a struggle

Since our little boy was

Born acutely blind with only

A very faint doorway of colour

Open him up to the world

We hopped on the tram up to Fawcett Street

And stopped for a haircut before

We passed through the gates of the big museum

And wandered up through the door

Oh, William, William, what can you see?

Mother, mother — I can see

Your hankerchief is wet with spit

Dappling at my cheek

The manager he bid us welcome

And patted each child on the head

And said to us this exhibition is the first of its kind in the country

He led us through a hallway

Into a foisty room

Boasting a dazzling array of

Animals, fishes and birds

The leathery nub of a badger’s snout

The papery wing of a stork

The spiralling tail of a pot-bellied pig

And the mane of a poor old horse

Oh, William, William, what can you see?

Mother, mother — I can see

A tawny owl perched in a tree

Talons around my finger

The rippling shell of a giant clam

A statue of the sea

The loggerhead turtle’s scaly feet

A minature cobbled street

A horny beetle, covered in spikes and barbs

Like holding the fossil of a fallen star

A corkscrew of tangled fur upon

The leg of a great polar bear

The notches and nodules on the crocodile’s forehead

Were more than the kids could bear

Oh, William, William, what can you see?

Mother, mother — I can see

A walrus dozing on the ice

Next to a frozen magpie

The ribs of a human skeleton

They rattle like our garden gate

Working the jawbone

And gnashing the teeth

He didn’t have too much to say

I can hardly believe that he was

Once a person, walking around on the street

On the way home we got ice-cream

Covered in monkey blood sauce

And taking the long way through the park

We slopped half of it down our clothes

Mother, mother, what can you see?

William, William, I can see the first few drops of rain in the air

Sparkling like diamonds

We had a wonderful day today

We had a wonderful day