Margaret vs. Pauline

everything's so easy for pauline
everything's so easy for pauline

ancient strings set feet a'light to speed to her
such mild grace
no monument of tacky gold
they smooth her hair with cinnamon waves
and they placed an ingot in her breast
to burn, cool and collected
fate holds her firm in its cradle
and then rolls her for a tender pause to savor
everything's so easy for pauline

girl with the parking lot eyes
margaret is the fragments of a name
her bravery is mistaken for the thrashing, in the lake
by a make-believe monster whose picture is fake

margaret is the fragments of a name
her love pours like a fountain
her love steams like rage
jaw aches from wanting and she's sick from chlorine
but she'll never be as clean
as the cool side of satin pauline, pauline

two girls ride the blue line
two girls walk down the same street
one left a sweater sitting on the train
and the other lost three fingers at the cannery

everything's so easy for pauline
for pauline