• ballad of the orange soda queen

    in my dream

    she had a baseball bat

    but i was nimble as a cat

    and brought her to her knees

    until she kicked the trees

    then, suddenly, covered in bees

    i cried

    have you ever loved a god?

    ---

    cause he will break you so softly

    you won't think you felt a thing

    till your life hinges on the finality

    of a straw paper ring

    ---

    you will memorize that one depeche mode song

    because you've known that life for oh-so-long

    but he drives nails into his own white hands

    and begged everyone he knew to kill him where he stands

    for that, you'll give up your whole life

    you'll give him everything

    your life will hinge on whether or not your cellphone eventually rings

    ---

    you will sit on your oversized parlor chair

    or maybe by your doorway at the bottom of the stairs

    for a silver car, trunk full of orange soda and fables

    he'll give that straw paper ring and your life will be stable

    you will fall in love again

    with the happiness he'll bring

    you'll forget about the bitterness

    and your heart will stop and sing

    ---

    he will leave you in the summer without a single word

    he will leave you broken, destitute, a disappointed broken bird

    but he, too, johnny by his side

    lay on a bed of ashes and he cried

    i broke him too softly, but he felt everything

    and now all i have left is a broken paper ring

    ---

    so brand me with your scarlet letter

    brand me with your names

    tell me i'm a charlatan

    playing a cruel game

    then i will show you my finger

    my leg

    where the scars linger

    where i was broken so softly and still felt everything

    the hellfire raging in my chest even destroyed my paper ring