I once knew a girl obsessed
with all that's pure and nice

She undertook a ritual each morning-
Pagan in its actions,
Priestly in its devotion,
utterly solemn in its practice...

First she washed with purest water,
and removed the world from her skin.
She annointed herself with Snake Oil Shampoo,
guaranteed to make today's woman a thing of beauty
as Nature surely could not do...

She clothed hereself in the tribal colors of Suburbia,
and went so far as to paint her face
in the color and hue of that same tribe...

An elaborate ritual that guaranteed--
Or your money back (within 60 days)--
she would dissappear behind her masks,
and the world could make no mark

For once she has dissappeared
Behind her colors and her masks
She could become one of THEM....

The nameless them that stared at her
From every magazine, every sitcom
The them whose lives are lived
In America's lost City on a Hill

Where couples are in love,
and children are happy,
and friends are Friends 4 Ever

And if their problems aren't solved
By some magical detergent,
or some One Time Offer
For $19.99 a month,
they'll surely be solved
Within the half-hour