Will you be able to shut off the sound of the mad ramblings
Of the drunk and insane; will you live comfortably day after
day
Witness to their struggles, prisoner in their wars,
Will your compassion save them?
Will you be strong enough (sexy enough, fit enough)
To put your body between a son and his father when things
Go too far?
Are you strong enough, moral enough,
Woman enough
To appear at least to be what they need, what they want,
And expect,
While rearing a boy who need never be that man?
What happens, when you realize these men are only adjacent;
And despite their promises, their desperate need to provide,
They’ll never be able to keep you safe?
How will you keep from killing these men?
How will you keep from killing these men?
When you feel them wearing you down, ready to feed
On what’s left of your vitality
In their struggle to win at King of the Hill –
How will you keep from throwing away the little bit
That you own
To escape their madness, the infantile hunger of their damaged souls,
The devilish charm of their decay?
How will you last one more day
Without bundling your child into a cab
And running far, running fast.
