In Memory of Paul Shanahan

When you lose it all, then you know
What it means to live outside--
You just had no place to go
On the night of your suicide.

There is no escape from madness
In this world where it's do or die,
As I think of your choice in sadness
On the night of your suicide.
    
You exhaled that last breath of hope,
As you waved your daughter goodbye,
From a noose that you tied with a rope
On the night of your suicide.

In the park just the cold wind knows,
While the homeless sleep outside--
You just had no place to go
On the night of your suicide.

                                                     May 3, 2004
                                                   --Alexander Shaumyan