One two don’t let it through Three four lock up the door Five six the ghost in the sticks Seven eight too late too late Ladies and gents step right in Watch a child wear her mother’s skin Southern tongue too sharp to bend Voice too grown for a play pretend They didnt pick me last i just watched the line Skipping rope slapped like a funeral chime I was eight years old with a thirty year mind Playground rules left me ghosted behind One two don’t let it through Three four lock up the door Five six the ghost in the sticks Seven eight too late too late Chalk on the concrete teeth on the word Be a proper girl was the curse i heard Hair in bows but my eyes looked burned I knew too much for the turn and turn Hopscotch squares like a grid of graves Every jump felt like a soul mislaid Children laughed but i carried the weight Death in my pocket by the age of eight Red rover red rover send me never No one called my name not ever Jump rope swing like a hanging tether Childhood gone gone forever One two don’t let it through Three four lock up the door Five six the ghost in the sticks Seven eight too late too late One two don’t let it through Three four lock up the door Five six the ghost in the sticks Seven eight too late too late Too late too late too late too late Too late too late Too late too late too late too late
