Struggled to move on
Chains are too strong
The past is the prison
To a future that is gone
A soul that is home
To a heart that beats alone
A dead man walking
Struggled to move on
Chains are too strong
The past is the prison
To a future that is gone
A soul that is home
To a heart that beats alone
A dead man walking
When left alone
With just my thoughts
My mind goes where it ought naught
It starts today
With challenges at hand
It creates a noise I cannot stand
So I travel back
To years long gone
When hopes were high, and future shone
A comfort, no
So further back I go
That darkness causes tears to flow
So I shake it off
Back to the fight
Begin my day, that's as dark as night.
I wish you happy
When I've moved on
I wish I had found it before I was gone.
I wish you love
When I am gone
I wish I had the strength to carry on.
Please remember
When I am gone
It was your love I relied on.
Please pray my love
I will pray my love
Eternal love. Eternal love.
I wish you love…
Kindergarten at Rolph Road Public School
I had a friend on the corner
Another down the street
Several that just appeared
We played road hockey
Climbed tress and jumped in leaves
Crushed Pennies on train tracks
and played chicken on our bikes.
I grew up in Leaside
First as Duane, then as Bob
That's where life began
I was six. The before was wished away
The before, I'm told, was Cornwall
Then Logan Ave and The Riverdale Zoo
And a sister and a brother or two or three
And a lot of Toronto Children's Aid Society
In a house as an only child
In another as one of many
In one where I did the laundry
In another where I was strapped, a lot
In and out
Sometimes fed, often not, never well
Sometimes hugged sometimes slapped.
And then I turned six
Then it was Leaside
Then it was real memories
Not just memories learned
from the past I had wished away
There was public skating
and popcorn and Hockey games
Hot chocolate and The Westbury Hotel
And Santa Claus Parades
There was the Chip King
And adults playing cards
Hockey Night in Canada
and the The Flintstones at Lunch
There were also house fires
Doctor visits
Stolen cars
And skipping school
And there was a new mother that cared
And a new father who dared
He wouldn't back down
and he never gave in or up
There was a blue convertible
Juicy Fruit gum and True Cigarettes
There was an office on Bayview
near a diner with Lemon Pie
There was a TV Commercial
and rubber cement
There was Canada Wire and Cable
and skate sharpening and Mr. Mahovlich
There were wirehaired dogs
and a kind, elderly not-aunt
The Christmas Wish Book
And Santa Claus was real after all
I began as a rescue dog
too scared, too quiet, too thin
But love found me and cared for me
And I received more than I deserved
And now I have the memories
Mostly good
Some bad
And the worst, those are the memories learned
When you've lost everything.
Everything but the alone.
Everything but the heartache.
And you're angry and tired all the time.
And if you stay there long enough.
In that loveless loneliness.
In that pain.
Then that is who you become.
People want to help.
People think you want help.
They think you want to heal.
They want to rid you of your pain.
They want you to know love again.
Or maybe no one even notices.
Maybe you're that good at hiding.
After all, you just keep smiling.
I'm fine. Just tired.
Except you're not fine.
But you can't open up.
You can't show your true self.
Then they'll want to help.
To fix it. To fix you.
And that scares you.
You have earned your new self.
Earned your loneliness, your pain.
And you couldn't bear to lose yourself.
Not again. Not a third time.
So you cling to it. Hard.
You embrace your pain.
After all, without your pain,
Who are you?
And how would you know you're alive?