By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 22 October 1999

a real live barely breathing girl

     lived is devil backwards
         throw the ball this way
             I can catch it
                 and throw it back

   you think you are
    breaking me down
     with your doubt
     you flatter yourself
   by thinking I'm crying
    because we are miles
        apart

 have you forgotten my story?
   were you not listening
       when I sang
         my song?

I have seen some respectable monsters
        in my time
I have faced down countless
       screaming demons
and cleaned the skeletons from
     my closet

    I have journeyed to hell
       on my tricycle
    and thrown my heart
        to the dogs
*****i have danced in the fire*******
   and named
     each scar

  there is nothing you can do
       you can't kiss it
    and make it better
      you can't fix me
     or break me
   you can take me or leave me
   but you better
      believe me

  this doll
   has got
  some weight
  this dream
   has a voice
 and I will scream
   bloody murder
  until you realize
  I'm for real.