What I Said I Saw

I said I saw her coming out

Because that’s what I believe

It’s not about what you see

That’s just something they make you say

When they’re trying to make their case

I believe she was coming out of that room

And that’s why I said it

Because I don’t put it past somebody like here

To do something like that

And not that he was an innocent

He wasn’t

Laying up there

In a filthy motel

With a woman like that

But nobody deserves to be killed

And just left there

Like they’re nothing

I saw her go in and out

I see them all do it

My apartment faces that motel

And the bar across the street

And that drugstore

Where all the junkies hang out

And if I could afford to move I would

But since I can’t

I try to keep an eye out

And I call the police whenever I can

And I saw that woman

Leaving the room

When that man was killed

And that’s what I believe

In my heart

You want to know something?
Something I won’t tell the police?

God talks to me

He does

He sees me as a beacon

An anchor for morality

In this world

So when I heard about the murder

I knew that was his way

Of telling me

I had to get that harlot

Off the streets

And into jail

Where she couldn’t spread anymore

Of her sin

To anymore people

That man was married

He had kids

He could have been a decent person

If she hadn’t tempted him

Not all of us are strong enough

To face the devil

And walk away

My sister was like that

Just like--

And what she did to my husband?

Lucky for him

He didn’t wind up in a motel room

With his pocket picked

And a knife in this throat but--

He could have

He certainly could have

If I didn’t--

Well, that was a long time ago

But I took care of it

I was a reckoning angel

On this earth

And just like I dealt with my sister

I dealt with that whore

Who thought she could do

Whatever she wanted

And not pay for it

Better everybody learn

That you pay for everything

In this world

Everything you take

Whether it belongs to somebody else or not

You’re still going to pay for it

I paid

I paid dearly

For every smile

I ever let cross my face

And she was going to get her smiles

The dirty way

And then take God’s most precious gift?

The gift of life?

And the commitment to a marriage?

I don’t think so

I hope she rots in that jail cell

I hope she rots there

Because a voice inside me

Deep inside me

Told me

That’s where she belongs

And I believed it

They ask you about what you saw

And some people think

They’re talking about your eyes

But I know they really mean your heart

And what I saw in my heart

Was murder

Pure and simple

Doesn’t get any clearer

Than that