It's a long and windy drive,
From the old house to those downtown lights
In all their glass glory and metal lights, my stolen glances up in flight
The saying goes out of sight, out of mind
But every time I closed my eyes,
Their dark, steeping silhouettes were all I could find
But I lived in a forest, I made friends with the trees
Solemnly they stood, fervently listening to me
Lonesome palms swaying down by the creek
Desolate land, a hot sun so painfully bleak
Trying so hard to shake my mean streak
While the other kids built their houses of cards,
I scavenged for materials cutting and hard
Filled my weak arms, bartered and charmed
Traded concrete for my broken glass shards
So I would never end up back at the start
They had nothing to prove
So I sprinted off their dying fumes,
Plotted, schemed, planned, and used
Ate from their cooks then asked to be excused
Avoided the verdict, never the accused
Games played to keep my nimble mind amused
And they never caught on because they never found something to lose
For once in my dreams, the fates paid me a visit
Wheels turning, gears clicking
An hourglass slowly ticking
They saw me and my machiavellian tricking,
And left the others to the daisies they were too busy picking
They whispered of the world
Within the oyster, find the pearl
In our crystal ball, the future unfurls
You will not always be this small little girl
With smart remarks and dirty blonde curls
They told me you become the hunter or the prey
Read carefully between the lines of what they will say
But for this knowledge, you'll have a steep price to pay
They'll never quite leave, but they'll never quite stay
Lurking ahead, there lies a day
Where the winds will carry you far, far away
I heard the whispers, built the plan
Conjured images of this imaginary land
And when others naively offered their hand,
I took it and off I ran
Tail lights in the dust, my getaway grand
Smiled and laughed, then packed my bag to leave
I was full of empty promises and hidden deceit
Crack the code and you're only a cheat
A simple phrase for admitting defeat
So I watched all the dead men walking,
Listened to their pointless talking
At my door, always knocking
Birds of a feather, together they're flocking
In my room, silently mocking
Read my books so I could read every room
Slip silently from and to
Always changing my costume
The naive bride to her arrogant groom
Then buried the remains down in the tomb
And if you looked closely, when they looked at me
When they assured themselves of my abnormalcy
There is something quite small that you may have seen,
Words falling like debris, a compliment paid for free
Little did they know, they were complimenting me
Then the rain fell, the wind came
Returning of fate, a prophecy to reclaim
A loosening of the reigns, unlocked the cage
Master escape, but it came too late
To reverse the parts of myself that were forever changed
Always the hunter, never the pray
Bow and arrow poised and ready to aim
With a slow rolling boil I can never contain
Turn up the heat, a sense I've been betrayed
Then it's a vicious temper even I can't tame
Only now I can't change where I've been,
Or take back these skeletal sins
This strong sixth sense as an act of defense
To make my skin extra thick
Walking back to the old house, to where it all begins