The Boy:
“And so it is finally done….”
The Minister:
“On behalf of the family, I’d like to thank you all for joining us this morning to mourn the passing of our brother and friend. In accordance with his wishes, there will be no eulogies given today. He has also requested that there be no prayers and no scriptures read. He asked only that I share this poem with you all….

If it’s not too much to ask, please no tears today
Far too many have been shed for me
Perhaps you could manage a smile instead?
That’s all I ever wanted to see
If it’s not too much to ask, please no grief today
Far too much has been spent on me
I hope my spirit is there with you today
It’s the only place I ever wanted to be”

I died a man trapped in a world where a boy had hoped to escape
Behind a mask my youth was lost, too scared to show my face
I died a desperate empty shell, begging for one moment's peace
Behind a mask I screamed to God who turned His back on me

I died a fading memory, who wouldn't release the lie
Behind a mask I was a ghost that life simply left behind
I died a broken-hearted waste, never found another such as she
Behind a mask I learned that love was never really meant for me

And it's been so long since all hope abandoned me
And it's been so long since the guilt would let me sleep
And it's been so long since I had the strength to try
And it's been so long since I wasn't praying to die

I died a blind misguided fool, wounded far worse than I would show
Behind a mask I collected pain because it served to numb my own
I died a lonely weak old man with no one there to see me pass
I died as I had lived, clutching a cracked and withered mask

With each false visage I wore and the cast of roles I played
A piece of who I really am was left to die onstage
My rusted hollow iron core had given up and set me free
Leaving behind only machines and tubes to coldly mourn me

And it's been so long since self-worth wasn't weighed in scars
And it's been so long since life didn't mean playing a part
And it's been so long since I forced myself into the dark
And it's been so long since I tore out my own heart

All the locks and iron doors couldn't save me in the end
I was a failure as a brother, as a son and as a friend
I thought contentment could be found in a life of isolation
Where the world could not find me, inside my sick creation

I chose to waste the time I had fighting an imaginary enemy
A legion of foes in masks themselves, under which they looked like me
So many wounds from my own hands, such loneliness I self-consigned
This sadness forged in my own fires, a cage built from my own design

And it seems unreal that I had to cut myself to feel
And it seems unfair that I lost everyone who cared
And it seems a shame because I chose to live this way
And it seems so wrong because I knew this all along

Lost decades of emptiness in a failed utopia hoarding pain
As I am this world's architect, in my hands must rest the blame
Endless wells of regret arose as I fell to my knees and cried
Why did I have to die to learn what it means to be alive?