When I was

When I was 7 my mother told me a story 

About a king and his queen

In the story the king sacrificed his life for his queen 

When I was 8 my mother told me a story

About a man and his son

In the story the man sacrificed himself for his son

When I was 10 my mother told me a story

About when I woke up and I didn’t have a mother

When I was 16 I woke up from my nightmare hearing the city sounds smelling the drugs that the kids next to me were smoking 

When I was 16 I stole the food from the little shop on the corner of West street and Clearwater 

When I was 16 I ran from the cops for a crime I didn’t commit

When I was 16 I sat in the 22nd police precinct sipping my soda and nibbling on the stale 8 hour old doughnut 

When I was 17 I was high as a kite waiting for my dealer

When I was 17 I wished I was normal 

When I was 17 I wished I had what the other kids did

When I was 17 I walked into my school not surprised when I was called to the principals office 

When I was 17 I lay in the back of a ambulance on the way to he hospital after shooting up

When I was 17 I didn’t want to be alive

When I was 17 I met a boy 

When I was 18 I turned my life around 

When I was 18 I fell in love 

When I was 18 I graduated high school

When I was 18 I got a job

When I was 18 I went to rehab

When I was 18 I was 5 months sober 

Then I turned 19 

When I was 19 I started college

When I was 19 I lost my sobriety chip

When I was 19 I lost the love of my life

When I was 19 I fell off the wagon

When I was 19 I was sad again

When I was 20 I lay in the critical care unit in the hospital after jumping in front of a car 

When I was 20 my love came back 

When I was 20 I met a child who inspired me to be better

When I was 21 I studied harder than I ever did 

When I was 21 I worked harder than ever 

When I was 21 I got a raise

When I was 21 I got an apartment with my boyfriend 

When I was 22 I studied abroad in Africa

When I was 22 I graduated college 

When I was 22 I proposed to my one true love

When I was 23 I started Medical School

When I was 23 I got married 

When I was 23 I adopted my son

When I was 24 we bought a house 

When I was 27 I graduated Medical school

When I was 27 I was officially Dr. Matthew King 

When I was 27 I told my son a story 

About a king and his queen

When I was 28 I told my son a story about a man and his son

When I was 29 I didn’t tell my son a story

I was the story 

I sacrificed my life for my son 

The smoking gun in front of me 

Tearing through my flesh 

As he lay on the ground watching 

When my son was 10 I told him not to be me 

When my son was 10 I made my husband promise he wouldn’t be like me 

When my son was 10 he lost me right in front of his eyes

When I was 7 my mother told me a story

About how my life would be