How quick I am to take a breath for granted How quickly one's saving grace can dissipate I see now that my choices inhibit Cutting free from the chained weight Stemmed from the burden of loss The imparable self-hate It took your absence for me to see How selfish of a person I can really be And you died by the side of life's cold shoulder A casualty of me growing older I've made many realizations But never could make ends meet Chalk it up to unhealthy coping mechanisms But I've left the reel on repeat I've learned when you're alone, a photo album won't suffice Pictures aren't there for you when you need advice No scrapbook can console Only serve to remind how I let it slip past Now I only dwell on the good times It's taken almost five years to the day To compile my thoughts without discarding them Back to line one in my bedroom, distraught It's taken so many drives to and from the graveyard My eyes staring from the seat of my parked car I'm not naive to the fact That can't change the past Apologize to my friends My parents Your rain-weathered epitaph For being down Inducing stress Forgetting when to laugh I've stood at the foot of the silt Watched the pink carnations wilt I can consistently replace them But I could never rectify the guilt Or make amends with the time I wasted I've just grown jaded I've learned when you're alone A photo album won't suffice Pictures aren't there for you when you need advice No scrapbook can console Only serve to remind how I let it slip past Now I only dwell on the good times I've realized that I didn't deserve you And I shouldn't have the chance to reminiscence Because in hindsight When you were alive All I ever did was dismiss But the biggest realization of all Is all my problems are my own fault I might never come to terms with this Nothing I'll write will ever convey How much I wish I could've told you This in the first place Despite everything I've done wrong since I was seventeen I hope each day, you've been up there watching I know if you were here and you could see each one of my flaws You'd find a way to make sense of them and assure me that no one saw So these words, they're all I can offer And they're my last attempt at reaching you I hope you're in safe hands And I hope I will be one day, too I love you