A small girl in a ragged dress walked down the railroad track,
Her shoes were scuffed, her hair a mess, no coat upon her back.

I said to her: "Hey honey, what d'you want to do with life?
D'you wanna be in pictures, or a poor share-cropper's wife?"

She said to me: "I'm gonna be just like my sister, grand,
And wear fine clothes, eat candy, and have rings upon my hand."

"And what, my pretty little girl, has your big sister done,
To earn such gems and finery and, no doubt, lots of fun?"

"She worked down at the logging camp, with all those big, strong men,
She went there every evening, and that's what my plans are, when...

"...my breasts are more developed, and my legs have got more shape.
Then to the camp I'll go and make those fellas drool and gape."

"Well, if your sis is fair as you, and maybe even sweeter,
Please show me where she's living, for I think I'd like to meet her."

She said: "Well, if you think I'm sweet, and though I'm just a kid,
You come home, and I'll do to you, just like my sister did."

"Where is your home?" I asked her, whereupon she turned her back
And pointing led the way towards a rotting tumbled shack.

"You live there with your sister?  What about your ma and pa?"
"Nah, maw is dead, and paw ran off... do you think I need a bra?

"And with some silken stockings  and my hair done up in braids,
I'll soon be good as sis was..."  "Wait a minute, my young maid.

"Please stop this silly chatter, and try to speak some sense.
Why is it of your sister  you don't use the present tense?"

"Because she too is dead, of course, She caught that old French pox,
But she wore lovely clothes, not a tattered dress and socks..."

"And now I'm almost big enough, that camp is where I'll go,
And all the men will say of me that I'm a first class who'." 

I gave her twenty dollars, grabbed my bike, drove round the bend,
Glanced back... she stood beneath the sign, "This Property Condemned."

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Monday, February 20, 2006