Mr. Ramirez was older than time
Half drunk, half blind
I used to help him around
The house sometimes
He paid me in quarters, nickels, and dimes
We were neighbors in a past life
We were closer than I realized
911, I dialed the call
You were the first dead body I ever saw

I knocked forever on your front door
Then used the key under the mat
My intuition had a premonition
Calling your name, you didn’t call back
Should’ve prepared going up the stairs
For what I’d find behind your door
You lying in bed with your eyes open
You were the first dead body I ever saw

Then I collapsed against the wall
I couldn’t breathe
I was just a kid, barely 13
I saw how it ends, life’s fatal flaw
You were the first dead body I ever saw

On your porch, I waited and wept
Unsure of what comes next
The coroner came, Mom called me home
No one ever laid a tombstone
It still haunts the house of my mind
Even after all this time
You lying in bed with your eyes open
You were the first dead body I ever saw