Across the Ocean of Birth and Death

You are the sepia-washed figures

On the cover of our favourite album

Like ghosts from the past

Like whispered words

That I want to forget

And when I hear those songs

I think of you

But I don't want to

You left a piece of yourself

Embedded in me

Like a shard of broken glass

That I can't dig out

I go so long, forgetting it's there

But then this song plays

This song about suffering

This song about loss

And I can feel it

And I remember

The pain you caused me

What you took from me

What I could have had

If it weren't for

Your cruelty

And hatred

After all these years

I haven't healed

And I never will

Because you killed a part of me

You might argue

That it was a small part

But no matter how small

It may have been

To you

It was significant

It was monumental

To me

It lived and breathed

And you crushed it

In your iron fist

Of sadistic abuse

But within my pain

There is one small, tiny

Glimmer of hope

That small part of me

That was lost

Has sailed away

Across the ocean

Of birth and death

Like balloons against the setting sun

Like glorious, golden birds

Freed to the open sky

Never to face the hell

And torment

Of a life like this

With a monster like you

For a father