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


Over your shoulder, please don't mind me if my eyes have 

fallen onto your magazine for I've been watching and wondering why
your face is changing with every line you read. All those lines
and circles, to me, a mystery. Eve pull down the apple and give
taste to me. If she would be wonderful, but my pride is in the
way. I cannot read to save my life, I'm so ashamed to say.
I live in silence, afraid to speak of my life of
darkness because I cannot read. For all those lines and circles,
to me, a mystery. Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me.
If she could it would be wonderful. Then I wouldn't need someone
else's eyes to see what's in front of me. No one guiding me.
It makes me humble to be so green at what every kid can
do when he learns A to Z, but all those lines and circles just
frighten me and I fear that I'll be trampled if you don't reach
for me. Before I run I'll have to take a fall. And then pick
myself up, so slowly I'll devour every one of those books in the
Tower of Knowledge.