Mourning Skies

Step-father

Seven years of age
I met you
You walked into my life
Much like a parasite
Unwelcome and unwanted
Enters its host
Feeding off of its life
Blood dripped from your teeth
As you seethe
Fifteen I sit in my room
After dying my hair the same color
Unable to catch a moments breath
Because I fear the worst
The last time you were this angry
I could feel the earth tremble
Beneath my very feet
You used to say
If anyone tried to hurt me
To stand my found
The ground I tried to stand
Is already six feet above me
You buried me under your own two feet
Built a fortress
Six thick
With the hate and insecurities
I was a mirror to you
And I reflected
Everything you hated

And as your baring teeth
Lash out at my mother
And her tears become my own
She screams she'll call the cops
But you only laughed
As if it was an empty threat

I just wanted you gone
I don't want to be under this roof
If you claim it is yours
I am not under the watchful eye
Of the round clock detective
Checking mail like a hawk
Scouring the land
As if a single stray mark

Keep it under control
Keep control!

You expect me to call you father
When you do not call me your own
You simply count the days
Until I leave this place
And your keeping
And I count them just the same

How can I breathe
With you hanging over me
A noose tied around my neck
Strangling the life from me
And if I dare say out of line
Like stepping on thin ice
Step on a crack
And break his fragile shell
Shielding his conservative mind
Keeping him blind