All my life, I wanted love
craved it like a child seeks, his favorite toy
My father wipped me, like Christ at Pilot’s home
My mother fixed the wounds...
and loved me unconditionally, eating her guilt
In the night I would hate him
In the morning, he would apologize...
talk of Irish history, as if nothing had happened
I would listen, my back still welted from the night before
Ever been wiped with a coat hanger? 31 was not the limit for me
Some nights, I could hear my mom and dad make love
My mother was a screamer
Other times, I saw her smacked to the ground
and if I got in the middle...
there was pounding, all around the room for everyone
Later, he would kneel and beg forgiveness
Like a fool, she always did, she love him no matter what
Many times I wished he would fall off a roof and die
Once he did, but he was so tough, he lived
Mom said grandma beat him bloody, thats just how it was
That is how I learned love
fire and ice, love and hate, beaten and blesses
hate and forgiveness... all so intense
It is amazing, I am not more of a wreck
Perhaps I am
I never touch a woman, other than in love
I never raised a hand to my daughter
except to smack her fingers, lightely
All of us children are the same... all ten
Each took a vow, to bring the pain to a final end
One of the last lessons my father gave...
"Be slow to anger and quick to forgive", he needed that
As he grew old he mellowed, time wore him down
God pretty much crippled him, and laid this man to the ground
We loved and hated dad, and adored our mom, like she loved him
Unconditionally... Completely... Endlessly
When they each died, in their time
We mourned, for my wise father
We cried like babies needing a bottle, for my mother
Everyone got what they had comming
That is how I learned to love
Thats just how it was
LeeL
Silver trophy winner
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