The pubs always close on Good Friday every year.
Joe decides to use the time to visit Auntie May.
There's always a chance she'll offer whiskey or a beer.
When you stand near Uncle Alan, drink is never far away.

May is very glad to see her nephew and his wife.
She takes them inside and makes a pot of tea.
She brings out a cake that she cuts with a knife.
But there's nothing alcoholic, as far as Joe can see.

She talks about the weather and the way they did her hair,
And the day she spilled the glass of apple juice.
Joe starts to measure time in portions of a year.
Till she says, "Would ye like to see our goose?"

They go outside to the back of the shed,
To the straw where a little goose lies.
She wakes him up and he raises his head.
He looks all around him in surprise.

She says to the goose, "Say hello to Joe and Jane."
The goose looks up. He doesn't seem to know
What she's trying to say so she tries to make it plain.
She says very slowly, "Say hello to your Uncle Joe.

"Say hello, Roadrunner. Say hello to your friends."
She's still saying that after quarter of an hour.
The goose stares back and Joe now tends
To stare at the goose in what looks like a glower.

He says to himself, "Not only have they
"Forgotten to offer us a drink of any kind,
"They introduce us to a very stupid goose who'll stay
"Sitting on the straw with nothing in his mind."

When she gives up on the goose, she thinks of the dog.
She takes them to the kennel near the shed.
She wakes him up, but he's as still as a log.
"Say hello, Coyote." He raises his head.

The dog just looks back when she says, "Say hello."
She tries it again. Not a word will he say.
And then she says, "Look, it's Roadrunner. Oh no!"
She points to the goose just a few yards away.

He looks at the goose, who just looks back.
"Oh no, Roadrunner. Coyote can see you!"
She seems to be waiting for the dog to attack
But falling asleep is all that they do.

Alan comes out. He walks with great care.
He looks all around him, moving his hands.
"It's red," he says, with a smile and a stare.
A strong smell of drink from the spot where he stands.

"We really should be going," Joe says to his aunt.
"Will ye have more tea? We've loads of time till mass."
Joe says they'd love to stay, but they really can't.
They walk towards the car past the anvil in the grass.