One time 

you made me cry
be proud that I
remember
my chin is sore
the bruise is gone
but the spot is tender

gave my hand a sister coy
to Cotton Alley where
you did enjoy
your wicked games
you curious boy

tied my laces up together
when I fell
you laughed
until your belly was sore

in the brick laid aisle behind
the five and dime store

that's how
I made you blush
but doubt if you
remember

were my tears genuine
or thoes of a skilled
pretender

nothing precious
plain to see
don't make a fuss over me
not loud
not soft
but somewhere in between
say sorry
let it be
the word you mean

I was a little pest who
never took a hint
could never
take a hint

you pinched my fingers
in a door
tossed my coloring book in a
rusty barrel

pulled spiders from my hair
fingers in the door

my favorite blue blouse
stained on the back
running from a berry war

can you hear me scream
in Cotton Alley
scream in Cotton Alley
in Cotton Alley


Eager to please was just the way that he was 

though his attempts there falling short,
expectation
see he would tell of all his conquests,
was he bragging?
but in the evening all alone
Ellen unplanned delays
saving for someone who really cared about you
invincible they say
married to your name
she was the kind between a child and a lady,
quick was her temper
like a blaez from an ember
no one had measured to her standard,
so in the evening all alone all alone
how do I tell them to open their minds
and to take a chance
maybe on finding life’s treasure stubborn they stay set
in their ways really not wanting to be lonely not alone.