Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

platform shoes and mini skirt
pony tail and cut off shirt
false eyelashes and hot pink lips
and ten hot pink finger tips

dancing and spinning out of control
trying hard to heal her battered soul
behind pink lips and false eyelashes
she's hiding memories that come in flashes

memories of pain and leering faces
smokey breath and hard embraces
calloused hands smothering screams
daddy's laughter shattering dreams

as daddy laughed and counted his money
he stroked her hair and called her honey
she knew that there'd be no escape
'cause daddy never called this rape

just good business is all it was
and she wasn't allowed to make a fuss.
so now she dances to hide her pain
spinning and laughing to hide her shame

strutting and prancing across the floor
all eyes are on hr, but she need more
what she needs is a loving father
but none of those eyes are seeing a daughter

so she'll go home alone tonight
and when she awakes with the morning light
she'll go to school and spend the day
pretending everything is okay

at the end of the day when the sun goes down
she'll get all dressed up for another round
of seeking what she can never find
because it lives only in her mind

she'll strut and dance out on the floor
all eyes will be on her but she needs so much more.

Painful to read, kknowing so much of this degradation and hurt goes on all over the world. Mine below is not about an abusive father but about one who didn't or couldn't express love when he should have. Should I post it? jim

Negligence

I wish I had held your heart,
reachable then, small and hurt,
cuddled it, much like a pup
kicked, beaten, cringing from pain.

I wish I could find that part
of you, injured and alert,
unseen by my love, and cup
wet cheeks in my palms again.

I dread all those moments lost,
slipped away but recalled, their cost
mounting. Can you understand
I find it hard to touch your hand?

Jim 12/24/72

Jim, this is beautiful. And tender.