kick me
i used to hitch-hike
i used to walk home at night
i was always flirting with strangers
laughing in the face of…
but that’s not why
that’s not why
that’s not why, why, why
you beat me
and even as you did it
i thought of how the papers would report it:
“frenzied, cold-blooded, undeserved”
and how that really didn’t capture it
you kicked me
and even as you did it
i thought of how the witness would relate it:
you’d be “outrageous”
while i’d be “courageous”
and how that really didn’t capture it
i used to speak my mind
i’d go beyond the party line
i was off message more than i was on
always off siding with the underdog
but that’s not why
not why, why, why
and how they’ll really never capture you