He cherished me,
Protected me,
Sheltered me from harm.

He lit up my world
Like my very own sun.
He shone light
On the very shadows of my life.

He gave me flowers,
Beautiful white lilies.
My favourite.

But then they died,
Wilted before my very eyes.
He tore away my joy,
And told me bittersweet lies.

He’s gone.
But he left a ghost.
He stained my skin, my life, my heart.
But my lily boy
Is who I love the most.

If you should die in battle,
I just want you to know:
That without you in our lives,
Clocks are ticking much too slow.

If tomorrow starts without you,
A part of me will die.
If you never come back home,
An ocean will fall from my eyes.

If you die on foreign soil,
And our house is no longer a home,
I’ll be living, breathing,
But never alive, only alone.

Every day, I miss you,
And I wish you were here with me.
It’s really not very fair
How you were taken by the sea.

Mum misses you every minute, every day,
She’s a shadow of who you love.
She struggles to survive each day,
Knowing you’re in heaven up above.

My children will never meet you,
Now you’re not here to watch them grow,
But, when they point to pictures of you,
I’ll say, ‘My Daddy, my hero.’

If I should die in battle,
I just want you to know:
That I will always be with you,
Wherever you may go.

If tomorrow starts without me,
Please don’t shed a single tear.
Just smile at the letters that I wrote
And keep memories close and dear.

If I die on foreign soil,
And never come back home,
Please tell our beautiful children
That they’ll never be alone.

If our angels ever miss me,
Just tell them to close their eyes
And I’ll be there for them,
Watching from the sky.

If you, Darling, ever miss me
Please know that I miss you, too.
I will forever shine a light
On everything you do.

When our children grow up,
If they don’t remember me,
Show them our many pictures
And tell them I’m their Daddy.

You’re now sleeping among the stars,
Winking down at me every night.
You walk among the constellations,
Dancing with the moon.

Since the first moment that we met,
You were my falling star,
My own piece of heaven
With drops of sunlight in your hair.

I look to the sky to see your face,
To see you shine so bright.
I see your eyes in shooting stars
And your smile in the moonlight.

If I could wish to go anywhere,
I’d fly to the stars because I know that you’re there.

How patient He must be.
He sculpted the stars
And moulded the mountains.
He painted the rivers, the oceans,
And carved the continents.

They’re perfect.
Just how He imagined.
He made them in a mere week.

But me?
I’m the unfinished masterpiece.
Eighteen years on
And I’m still not complete.

He’s so loving,
Not to give up on me.
I’m a work in progress,
An unfinished painting.

But the artist loves me so.
The planets and the mountains were the easy part
But now He has to finish this incomplete heart.

I’m a fallen mirror.
Shattered.
Broken.
Unfixable.

You could glue me back together.
If you wanted to.
But I know that you won’t.

Even if you did, I would still have cracks,
Scars.

Your words were knives, sinking into
My back, my heart, my wrists.

You’re a vulture,
Preying on my soul
Until I’m only a
Scarred reflection
Of who I once was.

You caged me in your game of chess,
But you never taught me the rules.
I was only ever a mere pawn,
Never a courageous Queen.

You painted my entire life
But you blurred the lines and shapes.
I saw rainbows throughout my time
But you took away my colours.

You trapped me in a glass jar,
Like a lonely caterpillar.
When I bloomed into a butterfly,
You never let me spread my wings.

But now you’re losing power,
You’re controlling me no more.
I’m now getting stronger
And I’m evening the score.

My queen is moving in
Upon your mere pawn.
And all the colours have been drained,
From your life that you have drawn.

My butterfly spread her wings,
And she flew away from you.
And then she said ‘Checkmate!’
Because your chess game is now through.