You know all the places where the bad men used to stay
I thought you understood the many games they all did play
It’s a reflection of the unborn shame inside you all
The girls with their eyes as dead as night
If they can lie, then lay down, for long enough
They will each get a dishonest kind of love
The bedposts were broke; the notches worn them down before
The girls ever got the chance, to re-strike a balance
That was never there for any of them
All the mattresses soaked through with the ongoing passing trade
Memories of these guests will be forgotten
All fairy tales, for little girls, are set to fade
The women, met the ladies, who met the girls
Who brought no knowledge, of each other’s
Pain and of glory, and another last-night’s story
Men of one-second memory please?
Give me a lifetime of misery
I want to be the princess; I am more innocent than the rest
It is written on all the girls’ faces that are here tonight
Yet none of them can see, none of them can read, or even write
That the reality was the drenched beds, that kept them solvent for one more night
Standing at the door of one house I hear you scream
Out into the silent cloak, that is patriarchy
Men tell you to lie-back, as the future is not for free.
10th September 1999 (Re-worked 29th June 2007)
