Sara’s Blues By L. S. Worth*

Mommy and Daddy, what are you doing to our life?
You’re causing us an awful lot of strife.
You need your friends to get you through the day,
While we are “passed off” to relatives
Who take care of us in every way.

You’re not here when we need you by our side,
But you’ve got your friends, they take you for a ride
To that place that you go, so near, and yet…
so far away…when you want to get away from us
… for awhile …and hide.

You know it ain’t right, Mommy and Daddy,
You know that it just ain’t right.

Do you remember when
They broke down the door, and then they rushed in?
I knelt on the floor, I was so scared,
I was hiding in the bathroom
Praying for mercy. and to be spared
From this miserable life.

You both escaped from all of the tripe,
That you caused. You know you caused it…
But you would never admit that you are the cause...
…never in your life!!

You know it ain’t right, Mommy and Daddy,
You know that it just ain’t right.

They took you away; they took us, too.
You went to gaol; we went to the zoo.
Or so it seemed… like a zoo.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t home.

I was scared;
My sisters were scared
And I wondered if you were scared…
Probably not…’cause nothin’s changed
Since you’ve been spared
From any real punishment.

You know it ain’t right, Mommy and Daddy,
You know that it just ain’t right.

You’ve already lost one daughter,
And maybe the little one and me,
That makes three...
The eldest said she will never go home,
And just maybe…if we’re lucky…neither will we.

They took us away from you,
After they broke down our door.
That was over a year ago,
And you have done nothing, NOTHING!
To make us a family again.

NOTHING!!!

In fact…

You still have your friends, the reds, whites, and blues.
They still take you to that special place.
And we have our grandparents,
They welcomed us to their space
And helped us heal our wounds.

They love us, teach us, feed us, and take care of us,
Something you can’t do, or won’t do.
But they are not…
Our parents…
That’s supposed to be YOU!!

Our parents make promises
That they don’t keep, won’t keep, or can’t keep.
If I have to listen to any more of your lies,
Mommy and Daddy,
I’ll just weep... and weep... and weep...

You know it ain’t right,
You know that it just ain’t right.

Maybe someday when you can clearly see,
Hopefully you won’t wait ‘til you’re sixty-three.
Maybe, someday, you will clean up your act - fall in line.
Maybe it will happen before I’m forty-nine,
But then… that’s too late…

I don’t know how you do it, or why you do it,
But I do know you won’t be doing it for very long.
Those little red, white, and blue friends of yours
Will be catching up with you…much sooner…rather than later,
And the rest of us will be singing your favorite song.

You know it ain’t right, Mommy and Daddy,
You know that it just ain’t right.

But sooner… or later…it won’t matter anymore…
‘Cause…
You won’t be doing it for very long,
At your final party you will be singing
Your own swan song.

And you know something? It just ain’t right…
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Copyright 2016, R.E. DeVan / DeVan Enterprises
*R. E. DeVan writes as L. S. Worth.
In Loving Memory of Cathy Campbell and Bridget Campbell