Graveside from Inheritance by terrapin

- written in third person, “Graveside” tells the story of the father’s death and funeral. He is survived by his four children, Jane (14), Tiffany (12), Stan (10) and Samuel (10). Set in 1986.



Children standing at their father’s grave
Bearing questions from their childhood days
Jane and Tiffany were shadowed in shame, oh
Stan had his hands round his brothers throat
Samuel had spoken in a bitter tone
“Don’t tarnish the name of the dead”
“Don’t you know they’ll come to haunt ya”
- Stanley Jr, 10

Janie knelt on the soil and laid
Indigo flowers on their father’s grave
Some are too far gone to ever be saved
Samuel recovered with a cough and cry
Little streams running from his youthful eyes
In need of some comfort he turns to his sister Jane

“And I never knew you well…”
“You drank far too much and cos of that you always smelled”
- Samuel, 10
Samuel withdrew and folded the cue card in two
Stan bunches his hands in fists,
Refusing to let the anger burst through

Wiping the tears out of her eyes
Tif knew of more than one reason why
Two weeks ago her father had to die
Down in the darkness under the stairs
She met up with her sister and they planned from there
A way to corner their father with a knife

The blood dripped from the blade
Samuel walked in and screamed until his voice was strained
Now he can’t remember anything or who was to blame
But the violence lives on in his brother’s name

Children standing at their father’s grave
Sharing stories from their childhood days
The youngest was hidden in a hazy shade
Stan had decided he would run away
Took his father’s bottle as he went his way
Jane and Tif held a secret so dark
They swore they'd take it to the grave

• #acoustic
• #acoustic guitar
• #indie
• #indiefolk
• #singersongwriter
• Acoustic
• United Kingdom