The Public Girl
I know am a pearl ,
Often in the day time ,
They call me a nasty girl ,
I am delicious food ,
I am drink to mitigate thirst ,
I am a bed to rest ,
I rise when the sun sets in the west .
I have no father as the common girls have ,
My mother fostered me in the dark street ,
I saw her yielding ,serving for food and shelter ,
I felt how for me she did bother !
I do not claim your jilted decency ,
Nor do I have any faith in your word ,
You put trap and catch a bird ,
And make it a roast for your drink ,
You the politicians ,you the corporate ,
You pollute the earth and reset its fate !
My mother was a daughter of a pious farmer ,
Her father trusted a son of an earl ,
And she at her adolescence winged her willow cast ,
The aristocrat swine ,took her away for feast of wine ,
Then she was a sale ,in a brothel ,
Some months before my tragic birth .
I remember my early teen ,
When I was less than fourteen ,
The greedy eyes and swell tongues ,
From my mother’s clients upon me hang .
I remember the occasional presses ,
And violent intake of poisonous kisses ,
From society figures and masquerades ,
And still I feel their blacksmith –like deals ,
And see myself pitted on society’s anvil .
You are not the first person to hear my tale ,
Many a broken-wing vagabond and tragic hero ,
Many a fate-stricken society’s zero ,
With storm and turmoil finger my bell ,
And seek life’s Heaven in my living hell .
I am a licensed-leisure with clock-tick hour ,
Often an escort for your travel –trip ,
You furrow my land without putting seed ,
You seek my art in every part ,but not my heart ,
And never you wish to know my feeling ,
I know your demand and service of my dealing .
Ah! I had I had my own sorrow and whim ,
A happy family –home as my dream ,
A faithful husband with children two or three ,
Could I have Sabbath and church-prayer free !
Oh no ! Your time is over ,you may go ,
Do you hear the **** ? Yes you hear ,
I have half an hour to attend the next client ,
And to repair the ravage , and a beguile smile .