At Seventeen

　　I learned the truth at seventeen

　　That love was meant 4 beauty queens

　　And high school girls with clear skinned smiles

　　Who married young and then retired

　　The valentines I never knew

　　The friday night charades of youth

　　Were spent on one more beautiful

　　At seventeen i learned the truth

　　And those of us with ravaged faces

　　Lacking in social graces

　　Desperately remained at home

　　Inventing lovers on the phone

　　Who called to say come dance with me

　　And murmured vague obscenities

　　It isn’t all it seems at seventeen

　　A brown eyed girl in hand me downs

　　Whose name I could never pronounce

　　Said - pity please the ones who serve

　　They only get what they deserve

　　The rich relationed hometown queen

　　Marries into what she needs

　　With a guarantee of company

　　And haven for the elderly

　　Remember those who win the game

　　Lose the love they sought to gain

　　In debentures of quality and dubious integrity

　　Their small town eyes will gape at you

　　In dull surprise when payment due

　　Exceeds account received at seventeen

　　To those of us who knew the pain

　　Of valentines that never came

　　And those whose names were never called

　　When choosing sides for basketball

　　It was long ago and far away

　　The world was younger than today

　　When dreams were all they gave for free

　　To ugly duckling girls like me

　　We all play the game and when we dare

　　To cheat ourselves at solitaire

　　Inventing lovers on the phone

　　Repenting other lives unknown

　　Who call and say - come dance with me

　　And murmur vague obscenities

　　To ugly girls like me, at seventeen