Bite Off the Roses

That twelve-year old girl sure knows how to flirt.
She gets all her cues from popular noise. She's fond
of that line about "hiking the skirt". She's eager to
blow her future on boys.

Bite off the roses in my head.
Stuff my pillowcase with lead.
Shove my wings deep underground.
Bite off the roses in my head.
Stuff my pillowcase with lead and shattered things.

Sneak out with Denise to charm some rich squirt who,
she's sensing, would rather she be someone else.
Moonlight finds them dragging her through the dirt face
up on a skateboard, strapped on by belts.

Fruit flies in her hair; bile stains on her shirt;
eyes bloodshot through lashes stucco'd with mud;
pinesap on her arm; I.V. starts to spurt.
Nurse says they found .31 in her blood.

Bite off the roses in my head.
Stuff my pillowcase with lead.
Shove my wings deep underground.
Bite off the roses in my head.
Stuff my pillowcase with lead and tattered slings.