It was raining outside
A cold silver thread
The wind nudged the frame
While he rose from the bed
Still drunk from the night
He could hardly stand
A bottle for balance
A curse in his hand
No memory formed
But his knuckles were red
Another fight
Another name unsaid
He once had a wife
And children too
But fists don't build love
And fear doesn't glue
The silence they left
Said all it should say
They slipped out at dawn
Just drifted away
He'd blame them, of course
Like he always would do
Never looked inward
Never saw it through
He fell like he lived
Bitter and blind
Down the stairs
With no peace left to find
No cries from the street
No flickering light
Just the creak of a home
No longer in fright
No candles, no prayers
No hands to the sky
Just a gap in the noise
When a tyrant dies
The neighbours all knew
To cross the street
He'd shout from the porch
Venom on repeat
Words like gravel
Sharp and vile
He hadn't smiled
In a long, long while
He spat at the sky
And cursed at the air
And no one replied
They just weren't there
The rain tapped the windows
But stayed outside
The blood on the floor
Had nowhere to hide
The sirens came late
Took their time on the bend
Not a soul in the street
Asked what happened to him
The house just stood
Like it held its breath
As if even the walls
Were relieved by his death
He fell like he lived
Stubborn and cruel
A king of his wreck
A tyrant, a fool
No monument stands
No marker, no tale
Just broken banisters
And a chipped stair rail
He's gone from this world
And no one cried
He's gone from this world
And no one lied
It's raining again
Soft on the glass
Not mourning, not weeping
Just letting it pass
And the house
Once shaken by fury and spite
Is learning again
How to rest at night
