First Degree

Family meant everything before my family was gone and I thought I could push through, but I could only stay so strong She was beautiful as ever, even screaming as she left but when she went she took the children and I haven't seen them since Innocent and perfect, they were everything I had but I don't deserve a family and I can't outrun my past so I stayed sober for a year and drank the other five away because the whiskey feels like comfort and the bottle always stays When i'm drunk I don't feel anything which feels alot like peace It keeps my finger off the trigger but the steel between my teeth Barkeep the bottle, I'll drink to misery Deadbeat; forgotten, not the man that I used to be Why hope for tomorrow? I can drown myself today I was once a father. We were once a family No home, no reason to live and no hope I'm back to the poison that made her go Two days from now, six years ago, I can't forget Who cares if I make it home? Fifth of Jack for a lonely ride I never even saw the sign God, what have I done? I was dead before I took their lives They aren't breathing Young girl and her child son I couldn't save them But how could I run? Somebody's family, somebody's wife, somebody's child, I've ruined someone's life It's bad enough i've taken everything I had How could I kill and drive on past? (What a coward I am) I would give anything to put that bottle down I would give anything, for everything i've lost somehow I'm so sorry, I could never fix my mistakes I beg forgiveness now, I wouldn't expect acceptance I'm alive somehow. I would not blame them if they end it I've ruined lives and pushed everyone that I loved to the side I've been destroyed by my vices These addictions have prices I could never say enough Can't right all the wrong I've done I've left bodies in my wake I'm so sorry

Submitted by Pestilence — Apr 18, 2026

Whiskey and Smoke at the end of the road, and I know i'll never hold my wife and son again Misery overwhelms, if there's a god up in heaven, He put me in hell December 24th, the love of my life and our precious child were out on the road, blacktop covered in snow a knock on the door, the men in blue suits, "We're telling you now son, you might want to sit down. Fall Creek Road, 6:45, your address on the license, I think it's your wife and son. It was a drunk hit and run, and trust me we're looking." (You're not looking hard enough) "We found her car on the road. They were hit from the side, and we're sorry but neither survived" If you know this man tell me now, the bar quiets down A miserable silence rings out He took everything I loved, it's his fault alone the closest I'll come to holding my child is holding a headstone The bartender slides a shot of the strongest stuff money can buy but it's not enough He says, "Ten minutes before the wreck a regular here, Edward Cass, had just left he was drunk and I know, he takes Fall Creek Road and lives in the broken down house on the corner Now that you mention it, I heard someone say his car was destroyed, he barely made it home." Now the murderer's down the road, he'll remember my name with a knife to his throat or atleast broken bones I down the last of a glass and head on Driving as fast as I can go, nothing to lose who cares if I make it home Tonight I'll look in the eyes of the drunken fool that took my pride and joy last night I'll make him pay somehow Nothing heals in time and the lives that he took will eat him alive How can I look in a monster's face He doesn't know my pain, but I'll make him pay Pulling up to his place of escape Ready to fight and ruin his life like mine His truck is a mangled mess, if he thinks he knows suffering... He knows nothing yet

Submitted by Infernal Flame — Apr 18, 2026

Breaking the hinges; facing the man that ruined everything is the hardest thing I've ever faced. But you'd be surprised by how cold a heart becomes when you take everything it knows and loves. of bloody hands and broken bones misery you'd never know of a cold heart and eyes like a loaded gun how could you take a life and run? I scream out "My son was five years old. The one whose blood shows on broken glass on the side of the road." Eye for an eye; life for a life Now there's blood on both of our hands. The last face you'll see is mine. You used a bottle, I'll do the same. But the bottle's best when it hits your face. Gasp for breath, murderer, don't even speak. Mutter out the words, "I'm so sorry." But you don't know my pain. You can't feel anything. Standing over a broken body, lifeless and bleeding. I'm brought to my knees, hands behind my head They read my rights as I spit on the body that I robbed of life. Nothing to hope for. Nothing to try for. Nothing to live for. Nothing to die for.

Submitted by Sexy Gargoyle — Apr 18, 2026

I was a prisoner before these steel bars My life was gone before this concrete box I was dead inside, before I took his life I had a baby boy and a wife, everything I loved died that night If there's something or someone stronger than my pain Can you hear me screaming? Why aren't you answering? I've watched a man die at my hand, I am misery I'm as dead as a screaming man could ever be I'd give anything to hold my son again I'd give anything for it to be me in that car instead Helpless a broken man, slipping through the cracks I've killed for them, I'll die for them, but I can't bring them back I'm as dead as a screaming man could ever be

Submitted by Celtic Frost — Apr 18, 2026

I've been confined for ten winters now Cold world, a cold man getting by somehow I'm a dead man walking through these concrete halls A mark a week for ten years on these prison walls I've heard of a saving grace, but that grace hasn't set me free And the holy book they gave hasn't done much speaking I know there must something stronger than my pain I need more than a faceless name, I want to believe So this is the first time we have talked I'm drowning in sorrow, You know everything i've lost Does my salvation rest on things i've done If I run to you, are you quick to judge? I'm laying everything down They say You can take my pain and erase mistakes somehow My wife and son are waiting, i'm waiting to be there More than anything I need peace and I can't find it here God of grace and hope, make yourself known I'm tired of trying, I can't make it on my own I was a prisoner before these steel bars My life was gone before this concrete box Ten years of being dead inside Ten years of haunting thoughts and restless nights There's nothing left for me here I'm tired of hate Take everything I am away That I could see Your beauty, and others see You through me All I am is at Your feet Breathe life into me I'm done with emptiness; hollow shell of a man's regrets Create a melody, that I could sing Your praise I can feel You in this place

Submitted by Morgoth — Feb 20, 2026