Sum, our stories–sum, our death–sum, our fear–some are left–sum, our mirror–some are late–sum, our stupid–sum, our fate–sum, our sorrows–summer feet–some are hoping this will all be ok–some are leaving–some are afraid–some gave up, went forever away–their names etched with blood in the back of our brains–summer wind– coming in–better than it’s ever been–sum, our passion–sum, our fling–sum, our distance–it’s time for you to leave – you can’t keep doing this, she said – she said you were killing yourself – your liver gone through failure, but you were spared-saved-kept! – some are hoping you’ll make a change–she said she loved you, she said they all did–they might forgive you if you can break away–if only you can break away–if you finally can break away–
-*break*-*away*-
So, I knelt before the Lord of Sum–save my life and I’ll become–a better man–a better son–I can do Your bidding–I can settle down–no more summer sweety–no more sleeping in strangers’ arms–I can seek a sapient spouse–I can stop sucking spirits into my gut–I can stop shooting falsehoods into my arms–no more swallowing ecstasies off a stranger’s tongue–I can look in the mirror and not want to shout–I can do this if You help me figure it out–I will break my feet out of a foundation of failure and faults–I will follow Your will–I will fall on my knees–every morning–every evening–I can make a routine–and now, now I’m seeing Your promises coming true–I can feel the love of St. Francis too–I am bound to a good woman–I’ve been telling the truth–I can see a brighter future, but I can still feel the flood–I will marry this woman–a family we’ll become–something worth saving–some are stories–summer songs–some are leaving–some become–sum, our stories.
Sum, Our Song.
Marty McCahill is a Grad School student at DePaul that also has two young children both born during the pandemic.