By the light of the dying flame
It angers me, I learned too late
in ignorance, I failed
to recognize our common traits
so long ago, in jail
It angers me, it took your death
to show me what was lost
I sit alone, and heave a breath
remembering the cost
If we had but recognized
our shared loneliness
perhaps we would have socialized
and stopped being depressed
If we had but understood
we both were without kin
no wife, no chance of fatherhood
we may have given in
Surrendered to each other, then
for whom else did we have
we could have stood together, when
our lives were going bad
Surrendered, and together, faced
our lives as they unstitch
my Cosette gone, the law disgraced
we both had found the glitch
Yet foolishly, I write these words
thinking you can hear
though, moments past, my vision blurred
I learned a truth, I feared
Still foolishly, I speak aloud
vainly hoping if I do
you'll somehow know my head is bowed
I wish to come with you
How could you leave, and give your soul
to the water's cold embrace
must you always take control
and spit in God's great face
How could you leave, knowing my belief
I cannot follow you
I wish I could have told you, in your grief
that I had wanted to
It seems, we two, are not strong men
we're vulnerable, after all
our little lives, they both depend
on something else, quite small
It seems, we two, have fragile minds
this proven, is our flaw
Cosette, she is my world— or was
and yours, Inspector, is the law
So when Cosette, she took his hand
that boy, whom she did wed
I knew, for me, she had not planned
and so back here I fled
So when you brought me home, I know
this is your point of strife
the law, it had become your foe
and so you took your life
I sit here now, alone again
I've not gotten up in days
the sun, I cannot remember when
I last had seen its rays
I sit here now, and find it right
we each chose what we preferred
you took control, plunged into the night
and me, I chose to suffer
This brings us here, your death so fresh
and mine so close at hand
to see Cosette, once more, in the flesh
would be my last command
This brings us here, and in the end
I don't fear to depart
and if my sinful soul should descend
I know you have my heart