Rhymes with Mercy Seat.

My earliest memories are of a man
who lifted me up and taught me how to stand
Left work at lunch covered in grime
just to hold his son one more time
then just minutes, just moments away
he was swept away on a summer day
I stood there watching the afternoon sky

and no one paid the price



He's no longer there at his bedroom door
thirty years of spoken words left ignored
Kept all the darkest secrets to myself
like priceless rubies way up high on a shelf
violent wants, greasy hopeless needs
buried knee deep in the mud of the reeds
the theft of him, the first unpunished crime

and no one paid the price

three decades spanned, I'd become obsessed
with the  thumbs in my temples that had been pressed
headaches grown at the thought of pain
criminal bloodstains unwashed by the rain
tears that were shed alone in the dark
caused by evil faces smiling a lark
and no one paid the price

too many open air smiles being borne
by those with bones behind closet doors
nothing to be done, no justice served
this albatross is just another bird
retribution craved, and payback wanted
as unjust freedom with grins is flaunted

and I paid the price

Will I ever stop being bothered
by crimes unrelated to the death of my father
wanted debts for his withering away
to be paid by the soulless who do not pray
people claiming God is by their side
as they wash the blood off of their hide

and I pay the price