Speaking to a Deaf Man

I blame myself; it wasn’t your fault

Though I wasn’t near that fateful assault

But I should’ve reached out when I saw that it’d started

When I saw that Dad’s death had hit you the hardest

And yes, it was hard, seeing Dad die,

We didn’t expect our last visit to be a goodbye.

But if only he knew what his son had become

A terrible sot, his reality numbed

And now you’re with Dad… well, maybe not

No words, no actions—it’s what I was taught

No thoughts, no reunions exist in the Grave

For if they did, then of death we would not be afraid.

So why’d you do it, please, give me some insight

Into what you were thinking on that life-altering night.

I know this sounds harsh, but I wish that she’d died

For it wasn’t her fault that you couldn’t drive.

But now you’re asleep in the Ultimate Slumber

While the poor girl waits with a shattered lumbar

At your funeral, they said, “I’m sorry for your loss,”

But who's going to pay for her medical costs?

It’s a certainty now, her future is gone.

How will she run with legs made into floss?

That track scholarship would’ve put her through college

But besides that, there are consequences you’re unable to acknowledge

Mom is beside herself; she can’t get out of bed.

She said to be careful; you were reckless instead.

I cannot forgive them, all the things you did wrong

When they’re really my fault, my silence was too long.

If someone asked, you’d plead, really clear and fast:

“Give me a chance; just one last!”

A chance to what? Not stomp on the gas?

Avoid putting our sister in a full body cast?

I hold no hatred, but now you’ll never grasp

That life isn’t a story; you can’t rewrite the past.