The Last Gift

I

Bombs were falling

The night you were born

Humanity was tearing itself apart

And yet there you were 

The last thing I would give this world 

It was worth it

II

I woke up that night in the cold

Nobody to keep my bed warm

A few days later I felt dizzy and puked 

So I went to the doctor 

And he told me I would be a mother 

This is news every woman longs to hear

But to me it wasn't very happy news 

III

This poem I'm writing is during one of those rare times 

When I don't have a syringe in my hand 

Or the contents of a bottle in my stomach

I am just smoking

It's a filthy habit, don't try it

I'm too far gone my child

But I want you to live

Grow, and like a tree 

Grow tall, grow well, grow strong 

Be a good human being 

Be what I couldn't be 

IV

The hospital again

They say I'm won't survive if I bring you into this world 

"Neither can live while the other survives", wasn't it?

And so I must go now

And you must live for both of us 

The hospital will arrange for your adoption

You will have a father and a mother 

Not a broken home and a shattered woman

V

With all my love

Santa

The Bilge Master