“One potato, two potato,
There potato, four!
Your daddy’s waitin’ there for you
Behind your bedroom door!”
The jump rope slaps the sidewalk,
My ears bleed with every word.
Though the voices didn’t say that,
It’s exactly what I heard.
My small feet pound the pavement
Just as fast as they can go,
For a moment I escape my world,
The only way I know.
Game over now, it’s gettin’ dark,
No longer can I stay.
Don’t wanna make him look for me,
It’s even worse that way.
Maybe he’s not drunk tonight,
Perhaps he’s gone to bed.
Don’t want his stink all over me
I’m wishin’ he was dead.
Mama, she won’t do a thing.
She says it isn’t true.
I know she’s really scared like me,
He beats her black and blue.
One day soon I’ll make him stop,
He’ll get what he deserves.
I’ll shove a knife right through him...
If and when I get the nerve.
This is best read in jump rope cadence.