Another Scar

I look at that face in the mirror

And wonder if it's mine

I remember how it was back then

When everything was fine

And now I can't recognize myself

I'd forgotten every line

That peaceful era seems distant now

In a better place and time

For years I've never shown this face

Hidden behind a mask

Everybody new my story

Those who didn't never asked

But now I have a different mission

A difficult new task

And that is to accept with my bitter tale at last

When people say the world caught fire

It usually means something good

But I say it now in a way

I never thought I would

In the sky above the earth

The ground rising up to meet me

We were fairly calm, as one could be

I thought nothing could defeat me

What happened then, I still don't know

But it still rouses ire

At whatever fate there may be

To think of her trapped in that fire

Crimson mane blended with the flames

And I knew that my moment was soon

Little did I know that day her life would prove my doom

Into the inferno I went

To see what was the matter

I saw then that she was trapped

And then I heard the shatter

A sound that still evokes my fear

I survived by God's good grace

But what, you ask, was the price I paid?

For her, my voice and face

I loved her then, I love her now

And love her I ever will

And never will I place the blame on my companion, Wild Bill

But when that window flew to shards,

Amidst the agonizing pain

My first dim thought was the knowledge

That life would never be the same

And for love of her alone

I forced myself to go on

Blood stuck the uniform to my chest

Would I live to see the dawn?

Was it a curse or a blessing that I lived?

That now I tell the tale?

I couldn't have lived with myself

If my courage then had failed

I cannot speak, I cannot live

I can't go anywhere

I cannot show my face to others

My appearance far from fair

All I want now is her love

And that, I cannot recieve

Our fight happened years ago

But I still don't want to believe

And even if I was with her

She shouldn't have to suffer

Wasting her kindness and love and beauty

On her mute, disfigured lover

I wonder sometimes if I was good enough

Or if she will find another

She has but to take her pick

She's a woman like no other

With no hate, no envy, no bitterness

Do I recall that day

I am only glad that she and I were able to get away

And I take a small comfort in knowing that

Though I showed her this face one day

That somewhere in her gentle heart

She loved me anyway

But that is over, that joy gone

And as I look into the mirror

I think that for a fleeting moment

I can almost hear her

Her words of thanks, her words of love,

Perhaps no words at all

And then her real and fading footsteps going down the hall

I touch the mirror in my silence

Wondering if it's real

Are those cracks on the glass or on my face that I feel?

She found me as a loner

And to being alone I return

With scarred face and voiceless lips

And a wound in my heart that burns

Maybe she's happier this way

With a man doing what I could never

But Scarlet, my Shana, my heart and soul

Know that I'll love you forever

Know that I did it for you

No price to high or too far

And as I walk alone now,

From you I now have another scar