I have to look hard now
        to see the scar upon my cheek
        the scars it left inside my mind
        I've never had to search to find

        At the innocent age of fourteen
        I only wanted a ride to the lake
        How was I to know he had a knife
        He screamed that he would take my life

        I only wanted to swim with my friends
        minor problem with my bicycle tire
        why oh why did I accept the ride
        my fault, I know, must I forever run and hide?
 
       When he turned onto an old dirt road
        the terror, the helplessness, began to grip me
        flight or fight, from the ignition I tore the keys
        I ran, he was faster, he threw me to my knees

        At the innocent age of fourteen
        I only wanted a ride to the lake
        I screamed and begged, he cut my face
        I cried, I died, but stayed in place

        I lay there for what seemed like days
        I still don't know how I got home
        my friends, my mother, couldn't be there
        all they would do is point and stare

        I had a friend from another school
        older and bolder, he had allure
        lost, like me, we had things to say
        California seemed cool, we ran away

        At the worldly age of fourteen
        no longer innocent, only scarred and withdrawn
        I turned to sex and kind strangers
        learned a lot of the worlds cruel dangers

        I learned what it takes to survive
        it's all about give and take
        I always gave all of myself
        hope for a real life put on a shelf

        I think of the time I was in Oklahoma
        I was happy and crazy and free to be me
        I had my own place with very little money
        I could sit, think and write and drink tea with honey

        Even then I learned that life isn't safe
        It was frightening to feel sometimes I was prey
        the drunk stalker who broke out my window door
        he didn't find me, I wouldn't take more

        He scared me so much though, I couldn't stay
        I was too young, the police couldn't help me
        they found out my age and made me go home
        I then went to college, and started to roam

        The people, the places, a life I had found
        a good job, a nice place, a sweet little child
        When I moved to Houston I thought it was right
        friends and I would party all night
 
        The city was big, too big to handle
        the sex, the wine, it swallowed me up
        burnt out and low I met an engineer
        money, stability, nothing to fear

        To live like this I must climb his ladder
        can't have my own friends but that doesn't matter
        I learned at fourteen I must be compliant
        this isn't the way to be self reliant

        I learned well how to go through the motions
        the game of accumulating wealth I gag
        is this really what I wanted from life?
        but to survive, I chose to be his wife

        At the innocent age of fourteen
        I only wanted a ride to the lake
        I can't stop to count the stars above
        do I even have it in my heart to love?

        The scar on my cheek fades a little each day
        scars in my mind, please fade the same way
        I can now look up at the stars above
        maybe, one day, I'll be able to feel love