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DOUBLE STANDARD, by                    
First Line: She lived below the tracks in squalor's clutch
Last Line: The town should worship him and pass her by.


She lived below the tracks in squalor's clutch
While sheltered women lifted haughty chins.
Magnolia petal, tarnished by a touch,
Was like her face, defeated by her sins.
For she was one whose scarlet candle light
Betrayed the beast in those who came her way,
And men were baubles on her chain at night
Who walked the paths of righteousness by day.

A man lived in a mansion on the hill,
He ruled our little town and rules it still.
Yet where the woods had formed a sheltered glade
He met and quenched his passion with this maid.
I wondered then and still am wondering why
The town should worship him and pass her by.





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