Sticks and Stones

Each tiny bow in that little girl’s hair

Was fluffy and pink and angelic

And her little white socks in black patent shoes  

Were pure and clean and gentle

Fluffy and pink and angelic

Were her red cheeks, chubby and soft

And pure and clean and gentle

Were her little-girl thoughts

Today those red cheeks, chubby and soft

Held tears and snot and bubble-gum stuff

Because those little-girl thoughts

Were focused on things best not focused on

Those tears and snot and bubble-gum stuff

Were itchy and sticky and mucked up her face

Because when you focus on things best not focused on,

The world seems like a much bigger place.

Itchy and sticky and mucking her face

Were the thoughts she was trying to hide

The world seemed like far too big a place

To fit in her small, darling mind

The thoughts she was trying to hide

Were of a big scary man who she knew

And today he filled her small, darling mind

With the rhyme she had learned at school

That big scary man she who knew

His voice and the way his face shone

Brought to mind a rhyme she learned at school

A rhyme of sticks and stones and bones

His voice, his hands, the way his face shone

Broke into her little-girl mind:

Yes, sticks and stones might break her bones

But only he can hurt her