Shaped Like a Father

it's shaped like a father - ragged and torn

and down through the years upon you it's worn

that cold, sinking feeling that never you'll be

something worth loving, something worth me

me or another, family or friend

or sister or brother; none of them can mend

that ripped-out part that inside you once beat

torn out by a coward, whom never i'd meet

it's a vortex of silence, a deep void of naught

it doesn't have feeling; it doesn't have thought

it eats at you daily, in your mind it teems

and devours you nightly, deep in your dreams

it's a burden you carry, and you carry it well

at least in the daytime, when most think you're swell

but your insides are churning, you just want to die

but you won't give up easy, so instead you just cry

you cry for what's happened, you cry for what's not

you cry for the things that their evil has wrought

you cry for your failures, you cry for your sins

and you cry for your family, you cry for amends

but you still pull your chin up and face every day

and you've got a whole lot that sharp mind can say

you've got a great heart, and a beautiful soul

and you make many happy, you make many whole

so don't give up easy, don't give up yet

you're future's not written, your future's not set

it's left to be pinned and you'll pin it well

that feeling will pass, love, i know time will tell