That woman could hang up her laundry each morning

With her suburban facelift

With her self-preservation

As if she was pasting up the sails of her clipper

As if the wind would blow through the sheets

Taking every drop of blood and regret with it

But I knew

I knew what went on in that      

-House-

That she called a home

I listened through the walls

I heard the howls and moans

I heard the screams and sighs

I heard the fucking and the fighting and the filth and the fury

I heard the innocence dying

Every night the innocence dying

I saw the looks on the children’s faces

When they left for school in the morning

Fixed smiles frozen from fear

Not daring to look back

In case he was following them

In case he hadn’t satisfied himself

He needed more

I saw the look in their eyes

Please don’t let my friends find out

Please don’t let my friends find out

I knew what went on in that house

I’d see him watering his garden

His semen stained boxers

His bare chest

He’d water those plants every day

Even in the rain

Hoping life would grow outside

While inside it died.