I learned the truth at seventeen    that love was meant for beauty queens and    high school girls with clear skinned smiles    who married young and then retired       the Valentines I never knew    the Friday night charades of youth    were spent on one more beautiful    at seventeen I learned the truth       and those of us with ravaged faces    lacking in social graces    desperately remained at home    inventing lovers on the phone    who called to say come dance with me    and murmured vague obscenities    it isn’t all it seems at seventeen       a brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs    whose name I could never pronounce    said - pity please the ones who serve    they only get what they deserve       the rich relationed hometown queen    marries into what she needs    with a guarantee of company    and haven for the elderly       remember those who win the game    lose the love they sought to gain    in debentures of quality and dubious integrity    their small town eyes will gape at you    in dull surprise when payment due    exceeds accounts received at seventeen       la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la la la...       to those of us who knew the pain    of valentines that never came    and those whose names were never called    when choosing sides for basketball    it was long ago and far away    the world was younger than today    when dreams were all they gave for free    to ugly duckling girls like me       we all play the game and when we dare    to cheat ourselves at solitaire    inventing lovers on the phone    repenting other lives unknown    who call to say - come dance with me    and murmur vague obscenities    to ugly girls like me, at seventeen       la la la la la la, la la la la la la la, la la la la.......