It Wasn't Over When You Died

Music: Fugue in C# Minor
By  Dimitri Shostakovich. Sequenced by J. Marques.

Hear me read the poem: As a .wav file As an MP3 file Alpha List Pantoums Poems About Child Abuse Sad Poems Contents Home Copyright by Nicholas Gordon

It wasn't over when you died, When I was still too young to know The damage that you did inside, The pain that I would undergo. When I was still too young to know, You did to me what things you would. The pain that I would undergo Came later, once I understood. You did to me what things you would While I lay numb and still. The hate Came later, once I understood The sorrow that you came to sate. While I lay numb and still, the hate Arose in you as love, as need. The sorrow that you came to sate Then passed between us in your seed. Arose in you as love, as need To undergo yourself in me, Then passed between us in your seed, Became your lasting legacy. To undergo yourself in me, The damage that you did inside Became your lasting legacy. It wasn't over when you died.