#23: LES MISERABETSY

(Exit JAVERT SR. BETSY is left alone, unemployed and destitute.)

BETSY

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I sew'ed a flag in years gone by
When threads were fine
And flags worth raising
I sew'ed a flag that should not die
I sew'ed so George would keep on gazing
Then I was deft and unathritis'd
The States were new 'n fresh, not yet wasted
There was no epidemic encephalitis
No flags were burned, no wine untasted

But the rumors come at night
With their howls blunt as butter
As they tear your reputation apart
And they turn your name to shame

They slept many summers by my side
They filled my days and/or nights with endless wonder
They took my late adolescence/early adulthood/and womanhood with their strides
But they were gone when Betsy woke up

And still I dream they'll come back to me
The many men I've loved now and forever
George, Tom, Patrick and the team
Each I loved freely where or whenever

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this heck I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now poor choices have killed the flag I sew'ed.

BLACKOUT