The Gem

Back on your back with a boot on your throat.
You gaze at a tattered pin striped coat.
Your dreams borne back east from your safe little home,
Have spawned a dark demon from profession's first tome.

The bar reeks of sorrow, and the whiskey's been tapped.
A trick left unturned is a lock on your trap.
The bruises ache less with the passing of time.
A gem so well-tarnished steals all your shine.

The gold has been rushed and you're left bare to rest
For a few fleeting moments by the gun from your breast.
But the door will fly open, the blows soon alight -
Less gentle than ones that you proffered last night.

There's no wagon to take you any further from here.
Your wages don't make you the price of stale beer.
You were tricked by the advert, "Come, entertain!"
But the gem took your voice and rewrote your refrain.

There's no family to send for, no friends in this place,
Save the other poor girls who all share your face.
So you're left with one chance that a life of grief gave -
With no peace in this dance, perhaps some in the grave.

You came out to sing and carve out a life,
Like so many others lured in by the knife
Whose blade remained hidden till you closed the gate.
A gem so well-tarnished strips shine from your fate.