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Saturday, January 19, 2008

At Seventeen...

By Janis Ian

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And highschool girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired

The valentine's I never knew
The friday nights charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
And murmur vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems... at seventeen

A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, 'Pity please the one's who serve
They only get what they deserve.'

The rich-relationed hometown queen
Marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly

Remember, those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
In debentures of quality
And dubious integrity

The small town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise
When payment due
Exceeds account received... at seventeen

To those of us who knew the pain
Of valentine's that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball

It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
When dreams are all they gave for free
For ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game
And when we dare to cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
Who call and say, 'Come dance with me.'
And murmur vague obscenities
To ugly girls like me... at seventeen

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An ugly duckling girl like me... Not that ugly I believe, lol. Maybe just felt plain. Those times when a teenaged girl seeks attention from someone she admires. =) Hek hek. Those I admired? lol, nevermind. It was weird you know, I have good set of teeth while he opted for a not-so-good set of pearly whites. Oh, I know why, she's endowed and I'm not.


Oh well, no hard feelings. *smile smile* I've had my share of ups anyway. Just wondering, in secondary school, why does the person you like doesn't like you back? Was it a universal dilemma or was it just me? Nah, not just me. *wink wink*

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