They wear shoes of velvet, and wander around,
Then creep up behind you, not making a sound.
Without any warning their fingers of ice
Take hold of your conscience, as if in a vice.
Guilt is the sister of shame
As if from the darkness, from you know not where,
Your stomach starts churning, and with hands in your hair
You ask yourself “Why? What have I done
to make me feel so unbearably numb?
Guilt is the sister of shame.
You go through the list of the things that you said,
While words, like a whirlwind, explode in your head.
You know you’ve done something, you know you’re to blame,
If that were not so, then why all this shame?
Guilt is the sister of shame.
It goes on and on, for what feels like days
And in your confusion your head is a haze.
Your liver is aching, your soul is in pain
And all you can think is that you are insane.
Guilt is the sister of shame.
Then out of the shadows, one sunny morn
The answer appears to you, clear as the dawn.
” I can only be hurt by these two evil twins
If I give them control of my thinking within.
Guilt is the sister of shame.
“I am the master, it is who must choose
To chase them away, I have nothing to lose.
I will stand at my tallest and shout in their ear
That they’re no longer welcome, that I won’t live in fear!
Guilt is the sister of shame.
And now, am peaceful, no longer tormented
By unfeeling voices that made me demented.
I choose to be free of guilt and of shame
And to live in the sunshine of life without blame.
Goodbye to you both, Guilt and Shame!