Sometimes you have to be lost
in order to find the answer
Sometimes, you have to be wrong
in order to know what's right
You're going to follow bad advice
You're going to make mistakes
You're going to deal with pain
and one day, you'll find that rain
can make rainbows
You just have to find your sunshine

Hush, little sister
Please don't cry
I wish I could be there
To sing you a lullaby

I can see your arms
Bloodied and bruised
That's strange, little sister
Mine were like that too

I know you scream
When Daddy's there
Hush, little sister
I know you're scared

I can see the way
He's hurting you
I'm sorry, little sister
He did that to me too

I know that people
Ignore what's going on at home
That makes me angry, little sister
You shouldn't have to be alone

Hey, little sister
You want to know why I'm not there?
It's a sad story, little sister
But people should care

You see, little sister
One day Daddy got high
You were asleep in your crib
So you didn't hear my cry

He screamed at me
And smashed my head against the door
While you slept, little sister
I died on the floor

You know, little sister
I don't think that I would have died
If someone had only bothered
To listen to my cries

But hush, little sister
Daddy's coming home
Quick, get into bed
You don't want him to find you alone

I'm sorry little sister
He's in a bad mood
Run while you can

Uh oh little sister
He's lifting his belt
Scream while you can, little sister
Call for help

Hush little sister
You don't need to cry
No one can hurt you
You're in my arms tonight.

Staring at my bedroom walls
plain white
I paint pictures
inside my mind
what could be,
what is,
what was,
what will never be

Words pour out of my ears,
as I turn another page
of a book I recently started reading

Mind is wandering,
here, there, everywhere
Places unknown

Ink smudges
as I run my hand over the words
of my soul
poured out onto a page
for none to see
but all to know

What happened to a mother's love
What happened to a mother's faith
What happened to kisses at night,
an "I love you" now and then
What happened to "I'm proud of you"
Not another demand,
not another command
Not another choosing sides.
I'm your daughter
Maybe not your favorite,
maybe not what you wanted your girl to be
But I'm still supposed to be your daughter
Your "spitting image"
but now all I am it seems
is a disappointment,
someone not in your dreams