She slammed the door at seventeen Left a house that prayed but didn’t speak Mom said no skirts, no parties, no boys Dad just drank and stared at his feet They called it love, she called it prison So she ran with friends who called her “free” It started soft, one pill to sleep One night, a stranger kissed her cheek “Just help him out, it’s no big deal” She laughed, she cried, she learned to kneel Each time she said no, they laughed and pushed And told her love means not being weak This isn’t how I pictured freedom This isn’t what the movies showed But they said they’d leave if I stop smiling And alone’s the one thing I can’t own So I breathe, I fake it, I obey There’s no way back to Sunday By twenty, she was sold for lines Five men a night in Motel Nine No doors locked, no condoms offered One broke her ribs, another filmed She bled alone in bathtub water Too scared to run, too high to scream This isn’t how I pictured living This isn’t what my soul deserved But I kept quiet, I kept giving 'Cause empty’s worse than being hurt So I swallow, smile, and stay There’s no way back to Sunday “Breaking now, body found in alley behind 12th and Vine” “Unidentified female, early twenties, signs of assault” “Three suspects in custody former friends” “One said she tried to run away said she missed her home.” They saw her face on Channel 8 Her baby teeth, her birthmark faint The father fell, the mother screamed They blamed the friends. They blamed the street But deep inside, they knew the truth: They raised her voice to be too weak She begged to come back but never called She feared they'd hang up on her pain They never left the porch light on They never said “just come home again” And now their silence has a grave There’s no way back to Sunday No more prayers. No more blame. Just her name carved in the rain. There’s no way back to Sunday.
