Pretty Polly

Polly was a girl not yet sixteen
I met her by the lake in the fall
Our love unfurled like a warm sick dream
It's a shame I had to go and waste it all

When we were together
Everything was alright
We shared everything you could share
Easy like a feather til that warm wet night

When she hit me with that hundred mile stare
And then I couldn't let her go
And of the child she would bear
My arms were turning into rope

I couldn't let her go
I couldn't let her stay
I buried pretty polly in a poor pathetic grave

And there she lays stranded in the Tivoli parking lot
No gas, no money, no love
Promised to a promise that I wouldn't get caught

But the dark sky handed me a dove
And I couldn't let it go
And all the beauty up above
I could never control

I couldn't let her go
I couldn't let her stay
I ran like hell
I ran away
I ran like hell from the hell I made

From the mouth of the babes
From the mouth of the bay
Poor Pretty Polly
The wolf and the prey