one hundred sheep

[[ After reading a National Geographic article -- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/02/wakhan-corridor/ -- but the situation is fairly universal. ]]

a woman like you

is a woman like you

you are two horses

you are one hundred sheep

you are the water

you carry from the lake

you are the milk

you pull from the animals

you are the rugs

you weave from the wool

you are the children

you bring from yourself

you are two horses

you are one hundred sheep

there is no money here

you are what you are

you light the opium

to live in this cloud

a woman like you

is a woman like you

you are two horses

you are one hundred sheep

checklist

[[ After reading https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/01/07/on-being-a-woman-in-america-while-trying-to-avoid-being-assaulted/ in the Paris Review and various other things. ]] 

they might chuckle 

when girls go together

they might whistle

when girls go alone

they might follow

when a girl goes home

you check the checklist

you laugh to yourself

you know it's crazy

till you see it in the news

you have to wonder

will he slip me

a pill in my drink?

you have to wonder

will he rape me

when I can't think?

you have to wonder

will he stalk me?

will I be beaten?

you have to wonder

will he carve me 

will I be eaten?

you check the checklist

you laugh to yourself

you know it's crazy

till you see it in the news

you have to wonder

will he dump me 

out in the park?

you have to wonder

will they find me 

dead in the dark? 

you have to wonder

what will it be?

what will it be?

you have to wonder

will it be me?

will it be me?

you check the checklist

you laugh to yourself

you know it's crazy

till you see it in the news

keep off the street

keys in your fist

lock up the car 

and drive like hell

the girl in a tower

[[ Listening to women. ]]

this incandescent light

these glowing coils

they make you seem 

a different creature

now I will listen 

to stories you tell

you always have another

a story to tell

tell me the story of 

the girl in a tower

of numbers and glass

the girl who never goes home

tell me the story of 

the girl in a box

with no air or sun

the girl who never goes home

tell me the story of 

the girl who grows old 

in the house an ogre

the girl who never leaves home

it's here already

when you know it's coming

you make a wish 

and blow them all out

you make a wish

and blow them away

then there is time 

for one more murder

one more little

stopping of the heart

accidental woman

[[ we are accidents and constructs with agency -- and the radio is our body ]]

I'm an accidental woman

a woman can come and go

I'm an accidental woman

I am a song on this radio

this is only skin

just another hotel room

flesh is a fashion

you can wear until your doom

or step on out of

and step into something new

we can get out of this

what we put into this

we can get out of this

what we make of this

what we make of this

is how we will be

I'm an accidental woman

I could as easily be the man

just a switch in my making

make a change to that plan

I am my own distraction

I paint my lips on

and put on a smile

when I look in a mirror

I get my kink in

I am my own distraction

see how these clothes hang

from my soft shoulders

just pull on over

and let it sink in

when I check the mirror

I turn my head

I'm an accidental woman

a woman can come and go

I'm an accidental woman

I am a song on this radio

pink planet

[[ a song about women and men and mermaids and centaurs ]]

From a pink planet,

from the pink sand,

we all heard a sound

that left us unmanned.

"Come join us mermaids

here on the shore."

Sing us a love song 

we haven't heard before.

Never a one of us 

ever has heard 

a true love song.

On the pink planet,

we laid down our craft.

"Steamy," said a woman

preserved under glass

She was a remake of 

Venus Needs Ass.

.

"Steamy," said a woman 

pacing her cage.

She was a remake of 

Heaven in a Rage.

Then men on horses!

Or will they be centaurs?

One way or another

We'll be on all fours.

Cut to the mermaids

chewing on entrails, 

wiping their mouths

with the tips of their tails.

"Steamy," said a woman 

locked behind bars.  

She was a remake of 

Panther Girls from Mars.

"Steamy," said a woman 

stood under a light.  

She was a remake of 

night, night, night, night. 

From a pink planet,

from the pink sand,

we all heard a sound

that left us unmanned.

"Come join us mermaids

here on the shore."

Sing us a love song 

we haven't heard before.

Never a one of us 

ever has heard 

a true love song.

she will turn the moon around

one touch, she will turn your wine to vinegar
one touch, she will wither the crop in your field
one touch, she will tumble the fruit from your trees

a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around
a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around

one look, she will smoke the image in your mirror
one look, she will dull the edge of your razor
one look, she will crumble your iron and brass

a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around
a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around

do not let her
draw the water
from your well

she will drive
the bees from your hive

a woman like her cannot cross a running stream
a woman like her will cause your horse to miscarry
a woman like her will drown your boat in a storm

a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around
a woman like her (a woman like her), she will turn the moon around


[[ See the Golden Bough. http://www.bartleby.com/196/149.html ]]

A Coin Toss

This 1943 Mercury dime

will circle our sun

to the end of our time

Ladies, a toast:

to the end of our time

...then I settled down

with a boy from a town,

a town crumbled into the sea...

there will never be another story

this is how all stories end

...that was the time

of the Mercury dime

round the far side of the sun...

there will never be another story

this is how all stories end

...out of the sun

came a man with a gun

whirling a circle of heat...

there will never be another story

this is how all stories end

...that was the day

that she melted away

fell off the edge of the world...

there will never be another story

this is how all stories end

This 1943 Mercury dime

will circle our sun

to the end of our time

Ladies, a toast:

to the end of our time

Circle the sun

to the end of our time

[[ It's intentionally disjointed. An astronaut has failed to settle something with a coin toss using an old shining silver Mercury dime that got away and is tumbling through space, glinting with each rotation. Well, that's part of the story. There is loss in the images, and a gunman. Three or four story lines hinted at. Only the images and emotions matter. ]]

the seclusion of girls

first sign of blood
the girl must run

the girl must not touch the ground
the girl must not feel the sun
the girl must not be seen by men

first sign of blood
the girl must run

she must run (run to the river)
she must hide (hide in the long grass)
she must run (run to the river)
she must hide (hide in the long grass)
the girl must run

first sign of blood
the girl must run

she must
live in the
house of the
heartless

she must
live in the
darkened
house

first sign of sun
this curs-ed girl
become a skeleton

first sign of blood
the girl must run

[[ This one is straight out of The Golden Bough. http://www.bartleby.com/196/149.html and today's news ]]

Bang

Bang.

Remember me?
I'm the girl next door

I'm the girl you want
I'm the girl you want to

Bang.

I'm a girl you used
I'm a girl you used to

Bang.

Know how it is
Know how it is

Know how it is

I was born dead, baby.
Or I died of disease
I was carried off by lions
Or I was left out to freeze

Bang.

I was raped at twelve
a mother at thirteen
I was bred again at fourteen
and a corpse at fifteen

Bang.

Know how it is
Know how it is

Know how it is

Or I was married off early
to some man from the town
I met him when I wed him.
They had to tie me down.

Bang.

Or I was sent to the kitchen,
or the cellar, the attic,
I was banged in them all
till I hanged myself out back

Bang.

Know how it is
Know how it is

Know how it is

I was sent to the factory,
or warehouse or workhouse
I ran off one night for
asylum in the whorehouse

Bang.

I was beaten to death
for my terrible crime
but not till the bastards
banged me one last time

Bang.

Know how it is
Know how it is

Know how it is

I am
the dust
you breathe in,
you breathe out
every day.

I am
your family
confession
written in
your DNA.

you don't know how it is
I hardly know
I hardly know myself

You don't know how it is
Know how it is
Know how it is

Know how it is

Bang.

[[ There is no coherent narrative intended. It's not about one girl, so details of the story differ. The girl in one line dies one way and dies another way in another line. It's a series of images. If it was a video, you'd see different scenes, different girls, different ages, different eras, different circumstances, but always girls being mistreated. "I'm Every Woman" being abused, married off, enslaved, beaten, raped, killed. Maybe that last bang is her putting a bullet in someone. ]]