Loretta Holloway
At Seventeen
I learned the truth at seventeenThat love was meant for beauty queensAnd high school girls with clear skinned smilesWho married young and then retiredThe valentines I never knewThe Friday night charades of youthWere spent on one more beautifulAt seventeen I learned the truthAnd those of us with ravaged facesLacking in the social gracesDesperately remained at homeInventing lovers on the phoneWho called to say - come dance with meAnd murmured vague obscenitiesIt isn't all it seems at seventeenA brown eyed girl in hand me downsWhose name I never could pronounceSaid - pity please the ones who serveThey only get what they deserveThe rich relationed hometown queenMarries into what she needsWith a guarantee of companyAnd haven for the elderlyLetras de cancionesSo remember those who win the gameLose the love they sought to gainIn debentures of quality and dubious integrityTheir small-town eyes will gape at youIn dull surprise when payment dueExceeds accounts received at seventeenTo those of us who knew the painOf valentines that never cameAnd those whose names were never calledWhen choosing sides for basketballIt was long ago and far awayThe world was younger than todayWhen dreams were all they gave for freeTo ugly duckling girls like me We all play the game, and when we dareWe cheat ourselves at solitaireInventing lovers on the phoneRepenting other lives unknownThat call and say - come on, dance with meAnd murmur vague obscenitiesAt ugly girls like me, at seventeen
From Letras Mania