In Memory of Paul Shanahan

When you lose it all, then you know
What it means to live outside—
You just had no place to go
On the night of your suicide.

There is no escape from madness
In this world where it’s do or die,
As I think of your choice in sadness
On the night of your suicide.

You exhaled that last breath of hope,
As you waved your daughter goodbye,
From a noose that you made with your coat
On the night of your suicide.

In the park just the cold wind knows,
While the homeless sleep outside—
You just had no place to go
On the night of your suicide.


   May 3, 2004 
--Alexander Shaumyan