Another night of dazzling lights
And cunning attire;
A smile laced with misery
Captures every drunken eye.
With each song belted from aching lungs,
With each provocative dance,
My heart shatters upon the sparkling floor
The same as my pride and self-respect.
My tears start to form whenever my eyes glance in the mirror,
Seeing a girl who lost her innocence
Far too young; her life lived as if a show,
Where it must always go on,
No matter the pain, the heartache, the self-hate.
They wrap silk ribbons of crimson around my arms,
They dress me in slinky clothes,
They think they protect me from all the harm
By forcing me upon a fabricated stage.
They tell me to hold my head up high
As I claw my nails and fingers raw and to the bone
Trying to escape their cage.
They tell me the show must go on,
That I need to stand tall, emotionless,
That I need to have my heart strong,
Steel-like, in order to live this ruinous life.
Every night before I preform for the men and women who come
To see me sing and dance for their twisted amusement,
I tell myself the one rule I must go by in order to survive;
