"Daddy?"
"Yes, Sweetheart"
"I love you"
I write for the one who gave me brown hair and eyes,
For the one who sang me my favorite lullabies.
The swing set he built, my rocking horse by hand,
Everything complicated by a simple man.
I write for the guitar playing and movie watching snuggling.
I write for the kisses and the hugs that never miss.
Practicing speaking without using words,
Our favorite is 'I love you'
The one to beat all.
I write for the smell of grass and pesticides.
Although it may be strange it's how I know you're around.
I have smelled that smell for years now,
But not once has it been you.
I write to forget that day,
The day you packed up everything and abandoned your family.
I write for the horrible toxins that entered your body,
The pain, the screams, the horrible nightmares.
I write to forget.
Homeless, dirty, wheezing, ashamed.
I write to pretend that everything is okay.
Food stamps, loans, loss of jobs.
Because of your choices I lived in hell.
I write to protect my crying mother.
Alone for the first time since you put a ring on her.
I write to clean away your cheating.
This is the end of this.
I can't continue on much longer.
I write for your AA graduation,
You were the speaker of Honor.
The whole building clapped their hands.
I was proud at that moment to call you my dad.
I write to keep memories dancing in my head.
I know you're alone now, but I'm here, at the heart.
I know I can't forget all the horrors that you've done,
But I know I can see the future, as bright as the sun.
Today I write for the simple things.
I write for our phone calls,
Stories about work.
I write to promise that I will never leave like you did.
I write for you.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Sweetheart?"
"I love you"