Medusa Jane

C. 1999 Jackie Tice

Beauty turned ugly. Or, what happens when a folk singer goes commercial…

You stand there
Staring at the crowd
Waiting, anticipating
That gold, all-forgiving crown
You’re a star with the eyes
Of a jewel-studded snake
A goddess of the 90’s
Tangled, dread-locked braids

And that well that you’ve been drinking from
You depict and you despise
Ain’t it time that you faced Mecca
And paid homage for your lies

You beauty queen of piercings
Two-eyed Medusa Jane
You ridicule the hype
Yet you exploit your very name
Then you change into another form
As true chameleons do
You set the standard for lonely
And the sycophantic fools

And that well that you’ve been drinking from
You depict and you despise
Ain’t it time that you faced Mecca
And pay homage for your lies

The walls you built around you
Stood the force of many blows
For a reckoning of victims
Count your fingers and your toes
You have taken bogus credit
For the ones who made you shine
In the glitter of the moment
You said, “mine, mine, mine”

And that well that you’ve been drinking from
You depict and you despise
Ain’t it time that you faced Mecca
And pay homage for your lies

You make it look so easy
With that steel, glossy stare
But your animus gets stumbled
When your thoughts return to tears
Yes, your animus goes under
When you feel your fear

You guard your graven image
Like a lion guards her prey
In the miracle of nature
Every picture hides the frame
Painted and protected
To conceal the cracks and flaws
The spineless and the heartless
Always bear the sharpest claws

And that well that you’ve been drinking from
You depict and you despise
Ain’t it time that you faced Mecca
And pay homage for your lies