Every night I am greeted with my father’s fists

A blow to the face and a blow to the knee

It never ever stops not matter how many times I plead

I say ‘’Daddy please, why do we have to live like this?’’

And I know I shouldn’t have opened my mouth

Cause the force of the next blow knocks me right out.

 __

Every day I look into the eyes

Of the man that I despise

They say ‘’you’ve gotta love him because he’s your father, he is your kin’’

But can someone tell me this?

How do I love someone who is always breaking me

Using his fists to destroy me and his words to cut me?

He is not my father; he’s more like a stranger

Not even that, he is a monster

I am the punch bag and he is the fighter

He is the prison cell and I am the prisoner.

 __

Every day I’m standing with one foot out the door and the other one in

Working up the courage to escape him, telling myself ‘’I can do this’’

I am the bird ready to spread my wings and flee

But his hands wrap around my wrist and pull me back in

Overpowered by the stench of the liquor in his breath

The look in his eyes asks me if I’m ready for death

He pulls me back in again and again

And I know if I turn my back on him and flee

He’ll pull out the gun that rests on his hips

He’ll pull the trigger and shoot one into my back

And god, he won’t even miss!

I’ll go down like a bird in the winter sky  

He’ll come over and whisper into my ear

‘’I never get off on empty promises.’’