Mythological Beauty

You have a mythological beauty

You have the eye of someone I have seen

Outside of ordinary situations

Even outside of dreams

You lie in bed at night and watch the lines of headlights through your screen

There is a child inside you who’s trying to raise a child in me

If you wanna leave

You just have to say

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way

You cut the flesh of your left thumb

Using your boyfriend’s knife

Seventeen, you took his cum

And you gave birth to your first life

You gave Andrew a family who you thought would love and take better care

I have an older brother I don’t know

He could be anywhere

If you wanna leave

You just have to say

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way

Rented a house in Nisswa, Minnesota

Shrapnel and oil cans, rhubarb in the yard

I built a ladder out of metal pieces

Father was working hard

Standing beneath the oak tree by the front door

You were inside baking bread

Sister came out and put her arms around me

Blood gushing from my head

You held me in the backseat with a dishrag, soaking up blood with your eyes

I was just five and you were twenty-seven

Praying, “Don’t let my baby die.”

If you wanna leave

You just have to say

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way

So much more to live your life

To walk the floor

To say goodnight

Do you leave your light on?

Do you leave your light on?

You’re all caught up inside

But you know the way