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When father's daughters run away

They are seldom found

And none return

For daddy-dear

Because daddy's not around

The teddy bears are thrown away

Or traded in for guns

The real world isn't daddy's arms

And bad girls chase the sun

Summer dresses make good rope

And high heels can be sharp

Daddy's girl has crossed the line

And broke her daddy's heart

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What goes on outside if church

The priest, he doesn't know

With hands over ears

And eyes squeezed shut

His mind stays close to home

His daughter stays out late at night

With smokers, thugs, and thieves

She breathes real air

And thinks real thoughts

And runs from the police

"Oh, father, dear!" She cries at night

"I've just been out to church!

The service ends

At three A.M.

'Til then, I'm hard at work!"

He smiles at daughter, pats her head,

And says that he is proud

Then daughter leaves

To roam the streets

Where everything's allowed

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Rebecca Olson

Left her man

And swam down towards the sky

She left her shoes back on the shore 

Where wilted daisies lie

She left behind her vocal chords

And forgot to bring her shame

That morning when her heart gave out

She knew love was just a game

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Sister Abby

Bound her wrists

And spoke not for two years

She turned her head

To food and beds

To keep her conscience clear

Her godly work

Pulled at her skin

'Til she was not but bones

Her chamber where

She blessed her soul

Became her eternal home 

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When mothers aren't mothers

And fathers aren't dads

And they sure as hell aren't "man and wife"

Little sisters become daughters

To the oldest of the bunch

And the oldest is 'mother' for life

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Christopher Collins

Stayed out too late

And his mom and dad just didn't care

He found who he was

As he passed on a smoke

And he grew out his shaggy, long hair

He had rips in his jeans

And holes in his shoes

And his skin was covered in scars

He like to collect

Broken glass

And sleep in get-away cars

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The general of the king's army

Sleeps too sound at night

He's seen a baby lose his mom

With one swift move of a knife

He's witnessed men walk into fire

Just at his command

He's watched a thief hang from the gallows

For something stolen not by his hand

He's looked right on as bullets pierced 

Body after body after soul

And didn't blink a single time

As blood oozed from the holes

But he tucks his daughter in at night

And kisses the top of her head

He hangs his coat up on the wall

And goes right off to bed

Skinny dipping

   We lay side-by-side on the cool grass, splayed out on our backs, holding hands so that we don't fall into the yawning abyss of the night sky. The fireflies are our own enchanted lanterns, bobbing in the sea hanging above our bodies. 

   The humidity is a seat belt holding us to the earth. 

   I let go of your hand and I kick off from the ground, swimming out into the atmosphere. I grab a handful of stars and fashion them into rope. I toss one end down to you and you climb up towards the ocean of air. 

   We paddle out to the moon and it cradles us as we nestle into it's curves, looking down at the earth as if it were the night sky. 

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Little susy

Clipped her wings

And stomped them in the ground

She walked away

And left them there

Both feet on the ground

Sister Mary 

Cut out her tongue

And tossed it to the waves

For words are evil

Words hold sin

So she threw all hers away

Old man Richard

Closed his eyes

And sewed both of them shut

He'd seen the world

And all it's jokes

And claimed he'd seen enough

The priest, the father

Washed his hands

And dried them on his robes

He'd burned his books

And drank the ash

So now he knows all God knows