Jeff Lang

By Face Not Name

Jeff Lang


A lone car stopped as I walked home that night
I ignored all the warnings a young lady hears
By the time that I knew what he had on his mind
It was too far for screaming and too cold for tears
Too far for screaming and too cold for tears

I waited three months for my story to tell
When the stares fell on me as I started to show
My mother said she wasn't surprised that I fell
My friends said "She never hitched rides home before"
"We never seen her hitching a ride home before."

I see all the girls down at the hair salon
They think I don't know which man got me this way
But the boys at the bar all know how they got on
Still I only know him by face but not name
Never since seen his face, and I don't know his name

Solutions are posed with a whispering fear
How "those doctors have no morals, and besides;
It'd cost you too much if you like living here;
With doors open, courts closed and all smiles
supplied."
Doors open, courts closed and all smiles supplied

When the time comes for me to hold that child to my breast
Will I feel only love or will my heart hold doubt?
Will I too see his face like I do when in rest?
All whiskey-fire breath with his hand on my mouth
His whiskey-fire breath with one hand on my mouth

A lone car stopped as I walked home that night
I ignored all the warnings a young lady hears