Pretty When I Cry

He likes me best when the lights are low When the motel blinds cut stripes across my skin Says I look pretty when I cry So I don't wipe the tears, I let them win There's a sadness in my bones That he mistakes for poetry I let him write all over me With hands that don't know how to hold Just how to hold me down In this forgotten town His truck smells like gasoline and her The one before me, the one before her too I find blonde hair on the passenger seat I don't say nothing, what's the use There's a sadness in my bones That he mistakes for poetry I let him write all over me With hands that don't know how to hold Just how to hold me down In this forgotten town Sometimes I drive to the edge of the county Where the cell service dies and the stars get loud I think about leaving, I think about staying Then I drive back home to him anyway Mama calls on Sundays, asks if I'm happy I say yes, it's easier than no She doesn't know I learned to lie From the best teacher I'll ever know There's a sadness in my bones That he mistakes for poetry I let him write all over me With hands that don't know how to hold Just how to hold me down In this forgotten town One day I'll leave But not today Today I'll let him watch me cry And pretend it's okay