Why must you leave me,
Christine?
Why?
I must flee
From this once-hidden place.
I hear the mob coming—
I must flee
Now…
Where can I go
Now that my refuge
Has been destroyed.
As I flee along
The maze-like passageways
I have built.
I am hiding.
Hiding in a closet.
Hiding with my hands
Covering my face,
Curled up in a ball,
Fearful as I used to be
With my early days…
Someone opens the door…
I cower and tremble
In fear.
I slowly look up.
My fear ebbs like
The underground lake.
It is the only woman
Who has ever treated me
Like a human being.
Who took me in
From the filth
And healed (and cleansed) my wounds.
The only "mother"
I truly knew.
She took me to the costumery,
Dressing my body as a woman,
We walked right out the front door!
Who would've thought that I, Erik!,
Would have escaped them so easily?
Like a Ghost!
People are asking questions.
Once again I must flee.
Mdme. Giry,
My "mother",
Hires a hansom cab,
Black as night
And shaded windows.
I ride to a French seaport,
Where the kind woman
Seeks out a ship willing
To take one such as me.
I hear voices.
Customs?
A sweep
Of the ship—
For stowaways?
I must leave!
I must take but
My mask.
I put on a dirty,
Disgusting,
(Perhaps rotting,
Even),
Life preserver.
America.
To think even here,
In the so-called
Land-of-the-free,
That even I
Would not be free,
Rejected once again!
There is no turning back,
This is where I must make my home
Now.
