Disclaimer: Although my pen-name is a direct reference to The Phantom of the Opera, I am not Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd Webber, or Susan Kay. As a result, I do not own the original novel, musical, or beautifully written spin-off novel.
A/N: This poem is the first of my series describing significant moments in Erik's life, as according to Susan Kay's Phantom. Happy Birthday is narrated by Erik, describing the events of his fifth birthday.
Happy Birthday
A birthday is an odd holiday
celebrating the day
in which one is born;
I could never understand,
then, why my mother
marked the occasion-
She of frigid eyes
and endless scowl, colder still
I was born into Ice
the frost wrought from
Her fear of the Fire
the flames that scorched
my face
and illuminated my mind.
She asked me what I wanted
my tongue was bound in fear
so She wrenched
my lips apart and drew
the Answer from my
reluctant tongue-
two kisses-one for now
and one for later
I never had a kiss before,
Mother, it seemed,
possessed none to give.
I asked her for two kisses
she gave me one thousand tears instead
and a slap across my heart
and a single word, never.
For my fifth birthday
I asked for two kisses
and received a shattered mirror
and two bleeding hands
and the knowledge that i shall
forever be Alone.