little sister you're a somebody

you like to tell me what to do

as if you think you know better

sometime's it's true

those shoes

don't match

that scarf.

you're

funnyniceandbetterlooking

the baby - of the family

i'm an example -

well, i oughta tell you, i'm a shit example

i stay up late wearing lipstick and

i'm in love with music and 

i don't get much sleep

and i'd take up smoking -

if i could hide it

i'd smoke to die if i could and

i like boys that don't like me and

i'm tied up in ugly and

fuck i wish i'd a talent -

you're a person

who finds fidelity in laughs -

slim bones that run 

in and out of doorways

giggling -

loyal and

demanding

storming in raging out

but they always know you're here

i'm a piece of scrap

metal 

that turned into a bird one day

flew away

you're unsure

you're so hot such a spotlight -

under young skin you

hide because you

doubt yourself -

don't.

my scream is hard to hear

it's made up of the spines 

of broken books

and cold water

and smiles

i wouldn't scream in front of you

little sister you're a somebody

i'm the door you skip through

little sister you'll be loved too much

for your own good -

it's okay -

little sister who knows how to talk

don't talk to me

little sister you can whisper

(you can tell me anything)

little sister so much braver

you're too scared of being forgotten

stop trying to remember me

little sister you're independent

stop challenging the world

you're not battling anybody

i'm a soldier on your side

little sister i'm going to war

to fight for me and you (don't follow me)

if i don't come back or if i do

scratched up red and black and blue (fists ready to hurt)

remember that cities and people and seas

they love you through

and fuck, if you've an enemy

i'll knock 'em dead for you

little sister we're punching through

the holes in our parents

those failed experiments -

they haven't got a thing 

on me or you

they'll love us 'til the day we die

because, see, they're people too

but 

you've gotta stop hurting them

don't follow me

i'm going to war

i might be waking up late

i'm a fighter

fists ready to bleed

and i'll knock 'em dead for you