A Body Without a Soul

you are not my real father.

that's what everyone likes to say;
does it matter?

i am as much yours as that other girl is,
and there's times where neither she nor i
can tell the difference.

you were the one who found me,
naked, cold, and alone--

you took me in and helped me
fed me
clothed me

literally and not.

when all i found around me was death and destruction,
you were there,
waiting for me, a lending hand, a listening ear, a loving heart.

you are not my real father.

i agreed at first, not wanting to impose--
but it didn't take me long to realize that well;
you were the best i was ever going to get.

you told me truths, and answers, and sweet lies--
the best i was ever going to get.

when you died, a part of me did.

but a part of me came alive, too.

that was what you always told me, wasn't it?

that death is just the next adventure.