It's dark outside swollen rain clouds fill the sky <br />Like the very depths of this imperfect heart <br />Thunder rattles the sky and lightning brightens the heavens as they began to cry <br />I hug myself tightly as the storm inside my house starts <br /> <br />My father storms in alcohol moving through his veins <br />His voice almost mutes the thunder overhead <br />As he shouts only my name <br />I just cower in a corner instead <br /> <br />I her his footsteps coming up the stairs <br />Each footstep makes my heart skip in the worst way <br />He reaches the second floor my door swings open with him standing there <br />He stands breathing heavily <br /> <br />He walks over to me I'm praying not again please <br />His hand encoils around my neck tightly <br />My feeble hands try to remove his but there is no sign of release <br />I find no voice or air to scream help me <br /> <br />What feels like a mallet hits me in the left cheek <br />And then another one in the right and nose <br />Hope for rescue begins to look bleak <br />Blood slides from my nose to my lip like a stream from a hose <br /> <br />Eventually lack of oxygen makes me collapse <br />I wake up hours late the taste of blood is fresh <br />Dried blood covers my chin, lips, and nose I know this won't be the last <br />That for being imperfect I'm severely punished<br /><br />Patrick Shields<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-father-pleae/
