“Seasons came and changed the time,
when I grew up,
I called him mine.”

Bang bang
by me

We were younger than the numbers allowed
stolen childhood survivors with a toy eye patch and rubber sword
You would kick trees and scream curses at the sky
and I would finger the trigger of a bubble gun
standing ready right at your side

I shot down a hundred dragons in your name, my friend
as you captured crows and crooners in butterfly nets
we packed up our kill in the back of a second-hand van
stopping only to sleep in border towns
never looking back to wave goodbye

He loved me like no one would ever dare
holding me still on a borrowed mattress
kissing crazy into each tear in my soul
the backfire leaving streaks of red and blue on my skin
beautiful bruises I wore like temporary tattoos

And you promised to never leave me
we signed our names in sidewalk chalk to swear it so
“I will change your name and you will wear that dress of red”
the one we walked by on the way to the bus each morning
mistaking an after hours dancer’s get up for a fairy tale of forever

But I am no princess
and this gun ain’t loaded anymore
you emptied the chamber when you took to the exit
leaving me to clean up the reminders
as I taped wings on angels that you would never see again

Bang bang
I wish you’d shot me down

Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) :: Nancy Sinatra