(Did) a little bird tell
(you) the story? Or did you
(hear) it whispered between the darkest corners of a bathroom stall? Did they tell you
(about)
(the)
(kid)’s canary? Does it bother you that the sickly yellow pet,
(who) bravely
(jumped) out of her nest, ended up beneath the boots of men too drunk to notice if they got
(off)? Did you know her broken body was left beneath the bushes at
(the) local middle
(school)? Or that the only witness was an eagle who was flying too high to provide adequate
p(roof?)

Of course you didn’t. That’s not the story they like to tell around here.