Swan Song

To all the ladies working Iowa 80

Selling pussy to the chrome on the interstate

Living hard lives, working long nights

Hit by every man you ever loved 'til your heart died

You're my mother, you're my sister

And a daughter tonight

For every bruise and excuse

You tried but you couldn't hide

For all the fear, every tear

Slowly burning your sight

For every moment in the light

I fucking see you tonight, goddamn

To see heartbreak from my window

Such a sad state

I can't stop to even help you

What the hell can I do?

Say that's just her life

Turned out used up and defiled

Deep pain starts early in life

Every woman still once was a child

Who's one story of millions

Swan song sung city to city to city

Your hurt hit closer to home

But what do you see?

Graves beneath the family tree of abuse

Fucking raped at age four on the floor of the chicken coop

I saw her casket fucking covered in flies

A botched embalming job still smelled like somebody died, for what?

Dead end path

Eyes up for all the woman suffering so visibly

The runaways enslaved unwillingly

Drug addiction, dereliction

Dying from trauma induced conditions

But you must find your strength

I can't walk your life your history

To see heartbreak from my window

One day this world might hear you

Sometimes you gotta let the rough end drag

I've learned that I'm worthy

And just because I have something

I don't have to use it as a tool

Meaning my tits, my ass and my pussy

That I can come higher with my brain

I've learned that a real person

You do not have to take shame for anything that you do

When you did it for a means to an end

And I've learned to not be ashamed of anything that I've done

And that my todays and my yesterdays

They can be my business, but I can share with the world

Don't be ashamed of them

Learn something from it

And whenever you have to do it

You can call it what you want to

But still, you gotta survive