Dear Father

Dear Father

I don’t call you “Dad”

Because I don’t feel you know me

The thought of opening up to you makes me want to flea

You once called a gay person a “fag”

Which made me mad

Because she is not any different than you

Or me, because you wouldn’t know that

But maybe I like girls, and that’s not so bad

Fleeting feelings of isolation haunt me

The words of my bullies taunts me

But all's you know is I have a four-point-oh

Oh and you’re proud, you say, but how proud would you be

If you understood what I battled for you to see

That grade?

I battled an abusive relationship

Nightmares every night for months

After being forced into something I didn’t want

Dear Father, would you understand

If I told you I’ve had depression?

What would be your impression?

If I said sometimes I contemplate

Leaving the world you break your back

For me to live in?

Dear Father, you do not know me

The way you think you do

But it’s true, I love you

Even if you are not quite “Dad”