woodpecker

lovely mary sweeney

the famous window smasher

was just a quiet school marm from lacrosse

wisconsin

she took a pinch of cocaine but only for her nerves

laudanum for trembling hands

a little bottle in her purse

she was a woodpecker

she couldn't help but see

all the things that hide inside all the pretty trees

at dusk she took a train just a hammer in her bag

she went from town to town

smashing every pane of glass

storefronts

mirrors

windshields shattered in the night

a hammer through a window's gleam filled the air with light

she was a woodpecker

she couldn't help but free

all the things that hide inside all the pretty trees

in the state asylum the windows caged in bars

they soaked her in an ice cold bath till she was seeing stars

wrapped up in her straitjacket her mind still hammered on

till the glass inside her smashed and she flew off into the trees

she was a woodpecker

she couldn't help but see

all the things that hide inside all the pretty trees