There’s a girl whose roots
Were trampled and twisted
Raised in the shadows,
Rejected and shamed,
And she damaged her babies,
Like her mother before her
Who was sometimes a monster
Tell me, who’s to blame?
Out of the ashes
Of pain and frustration
All my relations
I’m not above you.
You don’t need forgiving,
And I don’t blame you.
All my relations,
I love you.
My grandfather Ben
Was a really great father
But the car took a plunge
When his son was just nine.
The kid buried his hurt,
Became a man of distinction.
And when he drowned in addiction,
His loss became mine.
Out of the ashes
Of pain and frustration
All my relations
I’m not above you.
You don’t need forgiving,
And I don’t blame you.
All my relations,
I love you.
Lay it down, all that you’re feeling.
It’s not really prison when you’re holding the key.
Give in to the yearning for some kind of healing.
Your soul’s on a journey. It needs to break free.
There’s a trail of sorrow
Runs through my family,
Down through the ages
On a river of stone.
And we carry our damage
In the blood and the marrow,
Pass it on to our babies
From ancestors unknown.
Out of the ashes,
A shaky foundation,
All my relations
I’m not above you.
We all need forgiveness,
So how could I blame you?
All my relations,
I love you.
© Peter Melnick 2018