Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

You chose another path

One muddled with lies,

And rutted deep with secrets,

We would forever despise

Sometimes I wish I knew you,

Remembered the face that’s now mine,

Sometimes I wish you did not go,

That you had been here all this time

The church bells still rang that morning,

Or this is what I’ve been told,

Two sisters kneeled on the grass,

Only one would remember when she grew old

Their memories faded with the air

The air that carried the sound

Of a gun shot that rang

Throughout the entire town

Mom never quite had the courage,

To tell a story that left her bare

She hid the truth from a child who was too young

The way you hid those pills under the stairs

You had emotions you couldn’t control,

Sometimes up, then suddenly down,

I know that you tried your hardest,

But eventually you just drowned

The years to follow weren’t normal,

Therapy sessions in which we fought.

I lied, and cried, and nearly died,

And was diagnosed with being a snot

One sister still cries empty tears,

That really don’t have any meaning,

Her head is full of lies,

A mirror that doesn’t reflect what she’s seeing

The other still yells and bickers,

With an endless end,

She doesn’t know how to trust,

Those who only want to be friends

We prayed to a God who betrayed us,

One sister would never understand,

The other would somehow forgive him,

Knowing she had no alternative plan

Dear Dad, I do forgive you

I know how the pain must have felt

To feel all alone, and forgotten,

I probably couldn’t have dealt

Sincerely,

Your youngest daughter