SHE WAS A SPLIT IMAGE OF HER MOTHER / BUT ALWAYS HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER / EVEN WHEN HE THREW HER AGAINST THE WALL / EVEN WHEN HE FLOODED HIS BODY WITH LIQUOR / LIQUID FILLING UP THE SPACES WHERE HIS ORGANS AND HIS TISSUE AND HIS BONES WEREN'T / (A HIGH TIDE WAS A CONSTANT) / AND EVEN WHEN HE FLOODED THEIR HOUSE WITH EMPTY BOTTLES / FROM THE ALCOHOL HE DRINKS / FROM THE PILLS HE TAKES / AND STILL, SHE WAS HIS DAUGHTER / WHEN THEIR MAILBOX FILLED TO THE BRIM / WITH BILLS AND WARNINGS OF EVICTION
DO YOU KNOW WHY? / WHY SHE LOVED HIM SO? / IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY PARENT SHE HAD LEFT / THE OTHER HALF HAD LEFT YEARS AGO / FOR SOME PLACE WHERE THE WALLS WERE STILL ANEW / WHERE THE AIR DIDN'T SMELL LIKE SMOKE / WHERE THE PURPLE DOTTING HER SKIN COULD FADE / WITHOUT NEW ONES REPLACING IT / BUT BECAUSE SHE LEFT / HER DAUGHTER WAS THE SUBSTITUTE / THIS IS WHY SHE IS NOT HER MOTHER'S DAUGHTER / BECAUSE HER MOTHER NEVER THOUGHT / ABOUT THE CONDITION OF HER DAUGHTER'S SKIN / OF WHETHER OR NOT HER BONES WERE MADE STRONGLY ENOUGH / WHETHER HER DAUGHTER GOT ENOUGH CALCIUM / FOR THEM TO NOT BREAK / THIS IS WHY / SHE IS NOT HER MOTHER'S DAUGHTER
- HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER [ALTERNATIVELY NAMED: THE FRAIL, THE WASTED, THE QUITTER, A TRAGEDY - 6.29.16]
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PoetryLIKE THEM; the cunning, the strong, the rational, the sensual, the rash. POE19 [151016]
