=Survivor=

You’ll have to forgive me

I’m not in my right mind

anymore. By now

I’ve had a lot taken out of me.

It was inevitable, I guess,

considering how it started.

All those years of lying

have left me hoarse

like Babe Ruth

with cancer

a whole stadium hushed

to hear death

whispering.

I’ll show you the scars

if you like

where they cut the song

right out of me

and if you don’t like.

Go now, its best if you do,

there’s nothing here to love,

just a lot of holes

where someone has been before.

What’s a survivor, anyway,

but a map of mistakes,

of paths best avoided?

Am I here to teach you something

do you think,

to inspire you

to comfort you

or am I just a sideshow freak?

I didn’t come through the fire

for you,

for anyone,

not even for myself.

Truth is, when it burns,

you just go to the place

where it stops burning the most.

That’s all.

That place is here.

I’m talking now because it still hurts

and won’t stop

and though its quieter

and sounds almost reasonable

please understand

that I’m not talking to communicate anything

that what you’re hearing is nothing

but the fading of a scream.