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What She's Worth
She opened her eyes,
Those clear big beautiful eyes of hers
And since that day was told
She can’t ever be as good as you, like you even
She can’t ever do things the way you do, like you even
She just can’t
Hang on, “Why the heck?” she asks
‘Cause you’re a girl, a woman
“Oh, well”, she says “I think you’re wrong. I can.
Oh, no – not think, no ‘I know’”
Yeah, you! She’s already done that
All that and much more. Unlike you.
She would wake up before the amber star did,
And that farm girl, she was out in the fields;
As he rose. The sweat on her brow, not metaphorical;
Even if she worked in a windowless,
Prison-cell-like cubicle, she worked herself to pain
She worked; I dare say more than you ever did.
She did. Unlike you.
And they both the town girl and the former told-of
Have (mostly) the same story…
She put up with those scornful stares,
Rode up that hill, up and up
Alongside those thorny, black, murky bushes
They cut her and oftentimes cut so deep,
Yet she rode up, up and up.
And she, the mother of your tyke
Oh, I suppose maybe you didn't like
The child she bore you,
(Oh was it a girl? Sorry, to hear that sir…)
Or plain and simple just thought she’s a piece of filthy candy
To be chewed and spewed out; Unlike you.
And then lying there on the highway
Admiring that mirage and thinking why she just can’t let go
Maybe get stuck to a Porsche’s tire,
Oh, come on, how could she be deemed so lucky?
It must’ve been a broken-down tow truck’s or a minivan’s tire.
So you think you’re all that, so you threw her out,
You pushed her away,
And drove malignant daggers into her being.
Thank God now she knows she’s better off without all that.
All that can be dangerous; just like you.
She broke down too once, yes
Shattered and all those pieces of glass
Sticking into her from every side,
Like being locked into a square broom closet
With nails sticking out of every side,
No way out, No way to leave,
Yes she, she’s been there too. Unlike you.
And quite unlike you, she knew how to
Gather all of her pieces and put them back together again.
She was strong. Still is. Stronger than you’ll ever be.
She made mistakes yet learned from them. Unlike you.
And she raised her child without your help,
Though biologically the lass was yours too;
So just shut the f**k up
When she tells you not to meddle.
Yea, you really want to come back now?
Not a good time.
‘Cause all those days she taught the girl to be proud of who she is.
Unlike you would ever have.
She went through pain – Unspeakable pain – You,
You would’ve died.
Yet she,
She lived and lived exemplary
She showed the world and she showed you.
She poured her blood into the earth and let it flow.
Just so she could raise that girl good.
She, a mother, and her girl understood why they say
Heaven lies under their feet, the mothers’, that is to say.
She loved her girl and she loved you
And forgave you, a trillion zillion times
But you, you faker, hypocrite, shammer
You would never learn
What she’s worth and you would go and
F**k up every single time.
Then she learned to say “NO” for good.
She grew old, maybe alone
Maybe cause she had learned not to trust
And as she finally closed her eyes
Those clear big beautiful eyes of hers,
She heaved a sigh, a sigh of relief,
Amid those last breaths, a sigh of relief…
‘Cause she was content ‘cause she’d done well.
She’d cried and laughed and made people laugh, broke things, fixed things,
Endured betrayal, Earned true appreciation,
Lived for a good cause, and the cause had blossomed,
Yes, she’d lived the right way,
She’d done all that you said she could never do
And maybe even did some things so much better than you
She lived and died,
The one thing she did best
One for which she sighed the hardest
She’d raised a healthy child, healthy in body and mind
And above all else:
A girl,
A girl who knew what she was worth
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