Hush, child
the bottle says No More Tears
and you’ll soon wish for it

Hell, I haven’t cried
in over five years—
I never cried when your mother died—
you’ll learn this too, to bottle it up
and then you can pretend that you’re strong
but the sorrow is still there
and instead of No More Tears
you’ll feel numb and cold on the inside

tears everyday

Hush, child
the bottle says No More Tears
and you’ll want every opportunity for
this to be true

I’ll teach you to hate your body
that sex is bad
and money is good
and then you’ll learn that sex is so bad
some people trade it for good
I’ll teach you to bottle it up
I can’t help it—
it was how I was taught, too

No More Tears, child
not tonight, please