From that day on...

remember the day your shadow left me jaded
I was a lone blind beggar across the street
Waiting to be healed by the sound of a dime
From that day on left unnoticed by the sidewalk

I remember the day your shadow left me bereft
I was a dying infant, just born, suckling a wisp of air
Unloved on the war field where my mother lay dead
From that day on I lay unloved on ruins of a war.

I remember the day your shadow left me crippled
I was a sixteen year old slave, waiting to be sold
Bare-chested, for a spectacle of lurid lust of thousands
From that day on I lay ashamed quivering with innocent fear

I remember the day you shadow left me dead
I was me. Holding flowers, eyes open, afloat on the river
A lone dead bride whose groom never came
From such a day you can never dry these tears

-anonymous