Oh, baby, I was so wild
And free and nothing
Nothing
Could hurt me
Or so I believed
So I smiled for him
Making jokes about how I’d break
The camera lens
Not knowing that I’d break
Not bend
Not a matter of if but when
And baby, I remember that day
Like it was yesterday
It was my birthday
Gifts and ribbons and a bottle of wine
Oh, baby, you looked so fine
Unruly hair and leather
Snakeskin boots, skin tight jeans
Baby, I shook my head, not in this weather
“Come on. A little rain never hurt anyone.”
But you did. Oh, yeah, I remember that too
That smile you’d coaxed out of me
Not so long before
You left it laying crumbled on the floor
Tears were never any good at washing off the blood
But the rain was
30 days and nights
I remember all the fights
And how it used to flood
Our first floor apartment
Yeah, baby, I remember how we’d laugh
And stack everything up high
Where nothing could touch it
I should have found myself a ladder
And climbed up to the sky
“I hope you die.”
Those should have been my words
But they were the ones you left me with
That and this box of photographs
That I can’t seem to rid myself of
So happy birthday to me, baby
Thanks for the card
And the gift, wrapped in wine stained gauze
And thank you baby for every time I pause
And listen to the rattle of the wind
And the way the screen door bangs
Like a gunshot
Knowing that you’re out there, baby
As I lock my heart and throw away the key
So that you can never
Get in
Again.
