The Good Life
The Modern Mary
My mama cried, staring at the stars
She had once felt so almighty
Now, she’s never felt so small
My mama fell flat back on the floor
She once had a loving husband
He don’t love her anymore
My mama screamed, “This ungrateful world!”
Keeps on taking and not giving
Ever since she was a girl
My angry mama pushed everything inside
She will never let another
Steal the soil of her life
So, she tears away those pages of her diary
Those sick and sticky memories
“Jesus… some fuckin’ Jesus.”
It’s the same with every guy she meets
Thinkin’ they’re Jesus –
She don’t need their goddamn charity
My mama cried, staring at her hands
Thinking, ‘How could others use these
To shed the blood of man?’
My mama felt guilt-ridden remorse
When she thought of those before her
Who suffered even more
My mama laughed, “Everything’s so clear!
The woman is the wounded
The man stabs ‘the spear’’!”
My loving mother held her children to her breast
This world can go fuck itself
She’ll never acquiesce
She tore away the pages of her diary –
Every silly entry
Tore away the layers of her history
’Til finally she could see clearly:
Everybody hail the Defiled Mary
The afterthought of all male martyrdom
Behind every good man
Is a messiah story
I, for one, am as guilty as they come;
After all, I’m my mama’s son