SHE COULDN’T BE BOUGHT

SHE COULDN’T BE BOUGHT

She was a little can-can girl,
Who danced from morn till night,
They said that she was something else,
Her future burning bright.
She kicked her heels beneath the lamps,
Her tassels flying free,
And every man who watched her dance
Saw what he wished to see.

But one night underneath the lights,
She noticed someone there,
A millionaire with cold dark eyes,
And glitter in his hair.
A fat cigar between his lips,
A fortune on the table,
He looked at her as though he thought
To buy her he was able.

Behind him sat his bodyguard,
A shadow dressed in black,
He watched her every little move,
And never once looked back.
The girl kept dancing through the smoke,
Her red dress swirling round,
Her heels kept beating out their song,
Click-clicking on the ground.

The millionaire raised up his hand,
And beckoned her his way,
He pushed a pile of dollars out,
More than she’d earn that day.
She looked at him, then at the cash,
And smiled as sweet could be,
He thought he’d bought himself a girl,
As easy as could be.

But she pushed every dollar back,
And looked him in the eye,
“I don’t want you, they’re no good to me,
So don’t you even try.
I dance because I love to dance,
I’m not a thing you own,
So take your money back, dear sir,
And leave this girl alone.”

The millionaire sat furious,
He’d never heard a “no”,
No woman ever turned him down,
No woman dared to go.
“How dare she turn her back on me
And simply walk away?”
He clicked his fingers once and then
His bodyguard came his way.

He whispered something in his ear,
His voice was cold and low,
“You know exactly what to do.”
The man said, “Sir, I know.”
The dancer took her final bow,
Then walked out through the door,
Not knowing someone followed her
Across the nightclub floor.

Her glitter sparkled in the street,
Her tired feet walked on,
She thought about tomorrow night,
Another dance, another song.
Then footsteps sounded close behind,
She turned and saw the man,
And underneath his darkened coat
She saw the gun within his hand.

The shot rang out into the night,
She fell upon the ground,
Her feathers scattered in the rain,
Her blood without a sound.
She looked at him with frightened eyes,
“Why? What have I done?”
He blew across the barrel and said,
“Well, that was fun.”

He walked back to the nightclub,
As calmly as before,
And nodded to the millionaire
Who rose and crossed the floor.
He buttoned up his expensive coat,
His cigar still burning bright,
Then millionaire and bodyguard
Disappeared into the night.

By morning there was nothing left
But glitter in the rain,
A little red and silver trail
That washed towards the drain.
The music played the following night,
Another girl took her place,
But those who knew the can-can girl
Still searched to see her face.

They buried her beneath a stone
Where wild red roses grew,
And carved upon the granite there
The words that she once knew:

SHE DANCED FOR LOVE,
SHE DANCED FOR LIFE,
BUT NEVER COULD BE BOUGHT.
A MILLIONAIRE COULD BUY THE WORLD
BUT NOT THE GIRL HE SOUGHT.

And sometimes when the night is still,
And moonlight hits the floor,
They swear they hear her dancing heels
Come clicking through the door.
A flash of red, a swirl of lace,
Then suddenly she’s gone—
But the girl who wouldn’t sell herself
Forever dances on. ♦️❤️♦️