"Paint Me Red" by Bette Wolf Duncan

Lured by Molly's famous face,
the painter stopped at Molly's place;
and there he tarried for awhile,
enjoying more than Molly's smile.

But when the tender night was gone,
chased away by jealous dawn,
the painter wanted something more.
He yearned to paint the pretty whore.

Miss Molly wore her working clothes
and struck a smiling artful pose.
The painter saw beyond the guile
that he saw painted on her smile.

He vowed to paint the grief inside;
and all the tears she couldn't hide.
To be precise, he said his goal...
it was to paint Miss Molly's soul.

"Paint me bawdy. Paint me red!
But paint me with a smile", she said.
sometimes it's better just to hide
the heartaches carried deep inside.

"I'll pose the way you ask of me...
but leave my soul and sorrows be.
I don't explain to any man.
I play my cards the best I can.

"Paint me bawdy. Paint me red.
Paint me on a crimson bed.
It beats the view and hue I knew....
tarpaper shack, bone-chilling blue."