---

I found myself in the company of ghosts

Who's ankles wore grief like chains

With hands over their eyes

Wearing their faith in god

As a desperate disguise

In this darkened room at home

I sat and said goodbye

Wishing that you could speak

Watching your words cascade in silence

As they trickled down your cheek

If not the wounds of wasted time

And years of idle silence

Then what hurt the most to me?

That I am here because of you

Or watching you as you disappear?

I still hear that awful sound

The rattling in my brain

The endless gasping drowning me in fear

It makes me sick to death

The putrid smell of futile man

And knowing it was done

When I ushered you to your bedroom

Sitting knowing you were gone

I took my first and final breath that night

Watching all the years to pass

As they would leave me well behind

Showing me what I'll never become