Lord, how we gon’ pay these bills in this
How we gon’ pay these bills,
Lord. How we gon’ pay these bills in
We gon’ pay these
We gon’ pay
Lord how we gon’ pay these bills in this house?

How Lord, are we gon’ pay these bills in this house
Lord how, Lord how we gon’ pay these bills in this
Lord how, Lord we gon’ pay
Lord how are we gon’ pay these bills
These bills, Lord how we gon’ pay these
How we goin’ to pay these bills, Lord in

In this house, Lord? How is it that we gon’ pay these bills in,
In this house, Lord. How, Lord we goin’ to pay the bills in this house
These bills, these bills in this house, Lord, these
Bills in this house, how are we goin’ to afford to pay the bills in this
House of all houses? With the bills the way, these bills
Are, how are we goin’ to pay?

How, Lord? How is it that we are goin’ to pay
The bills in this house the way they are in
This house, this house with the bills
In this house of houses in the house
With the bills we don’t know how we’re goin’ to pay in this
House with the bills the way these

Bills are in this house, with these
Bills we don’t know how we gon’ pay
In this, our house of houses with this and this
Bill, Lord we have to pay in
This house, the house with all the bills that need to be paid in the house.
Lord how? How Lord is we to pay these bills?

How are we gon’ do it? How is it that we are to pay these bills
These bills, which are stacking up high as a house with these
Bills we don’t know, Lord, how we goin’ to pay the bills that are due on the house
That needs to be paid
In the house, this house in
Which the bills are big in this

House with these bills that we
Don’t know how in this world
We don’t know how we goin’ to pay

Jeffrey Barg sings Shane Allison’s sestina “Mother Worries” from The Incredible Sestina Anthology (Write Bloody Publishing), as part of the book’s launch reading in Philadelphia on January 15, 2014, upstairs at Fergie’s Camera work and insufferable giggling by the anthology’s editor, Daniel Nester.