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.

I met you in a world of colour,
But you left me in black and white.
I used to hear the birdsong, the beautiful sounds of spring,
Now, the lonely silence is all I ever hear.

Remember all the songs we sang,
The games we used to play?
How we would draw pictures on the stars,
A paint palette sky to see?

Wherever you are,
If you watch the life I've come to live,
I hope, through the good times and the bad,
You're always proud of me.

Every song I ever sing,
I feel you here with me.
I think of you every time,
The paint palette sky, I see.

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.

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.

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.’

Clocks kept ticking,
The world kept spinning,
Time marched on.
It’s now that I realise how long that you’ve been gone.

I can’t see your beautiful smile
Your melodic laugh, a memory
Every time I believe you’re still around
You’re slipping away from me.

Every time I want to see you,
I have to imagine that you’re there.
Every time I want to hug you,
The cold breeze embraces me instead.

Clocks keep ticking,
The world is always spinning,
Time marches on.
And still you’re gone.

This is for those who lived and those who died,
For those who hoped and those who cried.
For those who were only ever a number,
For those who are now in an eternal slumber.

This is for those who tried to fight,
For those who never slept at night.
For those who never made it through,
For those who were just like me and you.

This is for the orphans without a home,
For those who always felt alone.
For the parents who watched their children burn,
For those who prayed the world would learn.

This is for the innocent who were naive,
For the ignorant who didn’t want to believe.
For the homeless who had nowhere to go,
For those who felt they were below.

This is for those who lost their rights,
For those who fell from great heights.
For those who suffered unforgettable pain,
For those who’ll never believe again.

This is for those who lived and those who died,
For those who hoped and those who cried.
The whole world now lives in regret,
But rest in peace, for we’ll never forget.

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.

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.

With the blizzard starting outside,
With the snow and ice and wind,
The echoes of your smile start to fade,
And I look down from the cliff.

We saw so much sunshine,
But, of course, also so much rain,
My heart forgot to count the seconds,
Because I dreamt we had forever.

My vision begins to blur,
And no words I ever said,
Ever told you what was really,
Going through my head.

With heavy rain falling on me,
I honestly hope you can see me,
Because it really doesn't help to cry,
When I was too proud to say goodbye.

I lived a life of storms in a world of bright sunshine,
You ensured that everything I wanted never could be mine.
I thought you always heard me whenever I would cry,
But when you didn’t help me, I could only ask, ‘Why?’

I’m in a constant battle, just to try to get my way,
Never did you give me colours, just a life of grey.
I wanted to see you every time I looked up to the sky
But when I only saw the clouds, I had to wonder, ‘Why?’

You went and tore my Gran away, before my very eyes,
You never even gave me time to say all of my goodbyes.
I can never quite hear your voice, no matter how hard I try
And when I start to miss my Gran, I always ask you, ‘Why?’