Tuesday, March 04, 2014

For Nina Simone

I wish I could say I knew how it feels to be free
I wish I could fly till tired – and like a bird, settle in a tree
I wish I could say my tits are so big because I breastfed too long
Two and a half years pulling stretches tits out
Maybe so big from eating chickens force-fed hormones,
I think my problem is memory rot, because I have trouble focusing

I need a friend to stick with me through thick and thin
Literally, physically, emotionally, mentally, lean and leaner
both metaphorically and literally,
A special friend who will give me what I need
Who will be there when need
When I do deeds that make me feel alone
Who will be there for me as we agreed?
Someone to stand beside me when I succeed
Someone to be near when I fail but tried
Stand there with me while I wish they’d chosen me
But realize when it was time to pick
They didn’t pick me

I stood there under their watchful gaze, hoping,
yet knowing they won’t choose me
I’m not who you think I am,
The one you see with bright smiling gaze, nothing fazes her,
Turns her back fearlessly on hazing, moving in stride
I go it alone day after day
Like I’m in another time zone in the artic zone
I want a friend to see me through thick and thin

So please look the other way
Don’t say what you think you see because you can’t see me
Turning stones with my last breath I cry out friend!
There you are
Stand there beside me
I want a friend to see me through thick and thin
To understand my moans, use me
to help me chase away the blues that plague me –
Chase those blues away with surety like night fades to day –

I want a friend to see me through thick and thin
A friend who can give and take
Take generosity turns
I need a friend to be there when I let go, 
when I can’t hit high notes that sing songs to my heart
Need to play to know better days ahead
When your lips speak lies, I'll hold my head high
I need a friend to heal my blues – chase them away
Help me see sunny days, forget mud slinging out of tune
Songs that have no rhythm or rhyme to my heart of gold
Take this heart of gold and make it mine
I want a friend to see me through thick and thin

Make a shrine to this golden heart of mine