Double Grief

(Instrumentation: A lonely, repetitive piano melody in a minor key. It should sound like a clock ticking in an empty room.)

Verse 1

We weren’t even... speaking...

When the news... came... through.

I was still mid-sentence in an argument with you.

The "I hate you" was still hanging... sharp...

I was waiting for an apology…That wasn’t there.

Pre-Chorus

(Music resumes, lower and darker)

I was counting the days since you walked out the door.

Now I’m counting the days you won’t be here...

(Voice thins to a breathy whisper)

...anymore.

The bridge that we burned... is now covered in grey.

And I’m standing on my side... with nothing... to say.

Chorus

(Music swells slightly, more chords added)

It’s a double kind of dying... it’s a two-fold goodbye.

First you left my life... then you left the sky.

I was learning to live without "us" for a while...

But I wasn’t prepared to lose...

...your smile.

To the dirt and the dark and the permanent "gone."

How am I supposed to... [Voice breaks] ...keep moving on?

When I’m grieving the lover who broke my heart...

And the person... who’s now... a world... apart.

Verse 2

(Music becomes more rhythmic and tense)

I went to your funeral... stayed in the back.

In a suit that was faded... and cheap... and black.

Your mother looked through me... like I was the ghost.

But I’m the one who knew... what you feared... the most.

But I have no right... to a front-row seat.

Not after we left it... [Stutter on 'i'] ...incomplete.

Bridge

(Music swells to a loud, crashing peak—maximum intensity)

I’M SCREAMING AT A NAME! ETCHED INTO A STONE!

BEGGING FOR A FIGHT! ‘CAUSE I’M SO—

—ALONE!

COME BACK FOR A SECOND! LET’S FINISH THE WAR!

I’D TAKE ANY BATTLE! JUST TO HAVE! ONE!

(Music cuts out completely—total silence)

...more.

Outro

(A single, muffled piano note repeats slowly)

The breakup was hard.

I thought we had time.

To fix what was yours... and to heal what was mine.

Now the ink has gone dry.

And I’m stuck... in the middle...

Of a double...

(Long, heavy silence)

...goodbye.

(Whispered)

I’m still mad at you.

But God...

...I miss you.