The Drone Cometh

by Frank Thomas Smith

All the people of the village unite

To sing and drink and dance the night;

The bride is lovely in her new white gown

Her smile lights up all the town.

Look out, be careful, the drone's a-comin'

The time has come to think of runnin'!

All the people so happy and gay

The groom knows not what to say,

The mother of the bride with pride is swollen;

A moment of peace is being stolen.

Look out, be careful the drone's a-comin'

The time has come to think of runnin'.

The father, worried, offers a toast:

To peace, he says, and happiness.

The bridegroom answers with a boast:

Fear not, father, God is near,

Fear not, mother, love is dear.

Look out, the drone is comng soon;

The drone, the drone, it cometh here.

The drone – ka---boom!

The drone – ka---boom! Ka-boom!

Now there's really nothing to fear.

All the people of the village unite

To die together this moonless night.

The bride herself is equally dead,

Her white dress is stained with red.

The mother, the father, toast no more

The bridegroom's head is a mass of gore.

Look out, the drone is comng soon;

The drone, the drone, it cometh here.

The drone – ka---boom!

The drone – ka---boom! Ka-boom!

The drone cometh here.

Author's note: The title of this poem is reminiscent of Matt 25:1-6:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

It was used ironically in Eugene O'Neill's 1946 play The Iceman Cometh. In this poem it is more tragic than ironic.

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