Craig is a hurricane; 

A pernicious storm delivering nothing but havoc and destruction.

This bipolar alcoholic is more destructive than most hurricanes the world has ever seen.

He demolishes your emotions as a storm would do to a home.

Once he is intoxicated,

The skies around you darken like the deepest parts of the ocean; 

Then, his torrential rain showers over you until you become flooded with humiliation.

When he is finished, 

Your love feels abandoned.

He is a cyclone,

Craig is my dad.

 

As a person, Craig is present; however, as a father, he is absent.

He compensates the lack of time spent together with gifts,

But the inexplicable gifts showering around me are only out of his self-guilt. 

I did not know this as a little girl. 

My dad protected me;

I received everything I ever wanted from him

When it rained,

He was my umbrella.

 

Growing older, 

I noticed holes throughout this umbrella. 

When it rained, 

the water maneuvered its way through my dad’s shield,

My skin was exposed.

I felt vulnerable. 

This drunken man could not protect me when I needed him.

 

I realize then,

Craig was not my umbrella

My dad has always been my rain. 

 

There is nothing better than maturing;

Knowing how far you have come from challenges you have faced.

My dad is my rain,

But everything around me is my sun.

I am a rainbow.

I am the iridescent colors coming across the sky after a malicious storm.

I have learned from my dad’s actions in the past, and

I am transforming them into something beautiful.

 

I am a rainbow full of drive;

I have no ending.

I listen to others because my dad did not hear me.

I understand others because my dad would not let me speak. 

I am the one you follow when you need to be led.

I continue to take action whether or not I am faced with difficulty.

I know how to treat those who I care about correctly.

I received one lesson from my dad––

I will not become the adult he is.

 

There will be no confusion between the two of us because I am a rainbow,

He is a hurricane,

And storms don’t last forever.