i opened a bank account   when i was nine years old   i closed it when i was eighteen   i gave them every penny that i'd saved   and they gave my blood   and my urine   a number   now i'm sitting in this waiting room   playing with the toys   and i am here to exercise   my freedom of choice   i passed their handheld signs   went through their picket lines   they gathered when they saw me coming   they shouted when they saw me cross   i said why don't you go home   just leave me alone   i'm just another woman lost   you are like fish in the water   who don't know that they are wet   as far as i can tell   the world isn't perfect yet   his bored eyes were obscene   on his denim thighs a magazine   i wish he'd never come here with me   in fact i wish he'd never come near me   i wish his shoulder   wasn't touching mine   i am growing older   waiting in this line   some of life's best lessons   are learned at the worst times   under the fierce fluorescent   she offered her hand for me to hold   she offered stability and calm   and i was crushing her palm   through the pinch pull wincing   my smile unconvincing   on that sterile battlefield that sees   only casualties   never heroes   my heart hit absolute zero   lucille, your voice still sounds in me   mine was a relatively easy tragedy   now the profile of our country   looks a little less hard nosed   but that picket line persisted   and that clinic's since been closed   they keep pounding their fists on reality   hoping it will break   but i don't think there's a one of them   leads a life free of mistakes