The fire ran wild
why did I allow it?
your eyes sparkled like sunlight on the waves
why did I believe it?

you started the fire
the furnace that spread far and wide
it even reached my stubborn heart-
which burned like a twig in a flame

then you disappeared
like a frightened bird that takes to the sky
you left me to deal
with the scorching heat alone
and afterwards the all consuming smoke

and even now
after the monsoon of tears
has flooded out memories of you
the burn marks remain
the scars even spell out your name.

here we write our epic
from first post
to last bugle fading
and all your readers
throw in a handful of dirt
the day you stopped singing
and turn away to their bowers
to continue in this stranger than fiction endeavour
writing out their hearts and minds one big poem stitched together

I want to be in the graveyard
together with all the dead
the final frontier crossed
bones all crumbled to dust
colonised by long gone worms
I want to be in the graveyard
communing with the ancestors
who know more of life than the living
and fool no-one with any kind of guile

if you could touch my skin
you would feel all i am within
and if your touch is real
you would feel all that i feel

if you look behind my eyes
you would see what i am inside
and if your sight is true
there's a chance for me and you

Daddy, tell me why you smoke.
Do you like your future served in black?
Dead lungs and your body in a sack?
Your family crying and me in the back?

Daddy, tell me why you smoke.
Why are you letting toxic flow through your veins?
Do you like to grow old and be in pain?
You know you're walking down the devil's lane.

Daddy, tell me why you smoke.
I'm your little girl, do you even care?
Your poisonous smoke is all over the air.
Don't give me more burden than I can bear.

Daddy, tell me why you smoke.
Don't you know, don't you see what you're doing?
The time we're supposed to have is only fading.
Do you think a bright future isn't worth pursuing?

Daddy, tell me why you smoke.
Why are you killing yourself and dragging me along?
They say you're addicted, please prove them wrong.
I know you can do it, I know you are strong.

Daddy, tell me why you smoke?
I wish for one thing, and one thing only.
Tell me you'll quit and erase my worry.
And promise me forever I won't lose my daddy.