If I Wrote A Song About What Happened To Me
By Christiana Rosenthal
If I wrote a song about what happened to me,
It wouldn’t be pretty, no sweet melody.
It’d bleed with the truth, no sugar, no glaze,
Just a child lost in a drunk man’s maze.
Where the belt cracked louder than the TV hum,
A return home from the bar meant you’d better run.
Bruises bloomed like dandelion flowers,
Counting scars instead of hours.
You’d hear the lies in a slamming door,
You’d feel what I can't hide no more...
If these walls could talk, they’d scream, not sing
Of a child robbed of everything
Of sleep awoken in the dead of night
Of fists that fell and dreams that took flight
If I wrote that song, you'd beg to un-hear
The sound of my childhood echoing clear
It'd cut like truth, it’d steal your sleep
A song so real, it’d make you weep
There should be innocence in a child’s eyes,
But mine were taught to swallow cries.
I knew too young how fear could taste,
How love could vanish without a trace.
Around the corner, hope would hide,
And I'd brace each night like a cicadas lullaby.
I couldn’t lose what I’ve never felt,
Just play the cards I was dealt.
You’d feel the cold of an empty bed,
You’d hear the opening of a beer and what should never be said...
If those walls could talk, they’d scream, not sing
Of a child robbed of everything
Of sleep awoken in the dead of night
Of fists that fell and dreams that took flight
If I wrote that song, you'd beg to un-hear
The sound of my childhood echoing clear
It'd cut like truth, it’d steal your sleep
A song so real, it’d make you weep
So I hold the silence, let it be,
The only one who ever fought for me... was me.
Through hatred, through the bruising rain,
I learned to dance around the pain.
But if you heard it, every beat,
You’d fall apart where I found my feet.
If these walls could talk, they’d scream, not sing
Of a child robbed of everything
Of sleep awoken in the dead of night
Of fists that fell and dreams that took flight
If I wrote that song, you'd beg to un-hear
The sound of my childhood echoing clear
It'd cut like truth, it’d steal your sleep
A song so real, it’d make you weep
