My Father

By: Bill

He cared not once, I always thought,
He loved with pain and hateful ways,
I lived not one score, before I sought
The rainless nights and sunny days.

I thought escape would end it all,
His death - my freedom won,
But, my mind was shackled with an evil pall,
His grasp still tight on his youngest son.

But, as I grew and loved those near,
His memory and me began to part,
My mind set free - no place for fear,
Now he is a memory locked deep in my heart.

I blamed myself for years, long past,
For violence bestowed on this young mind,
But innocence, then, was all I cast,
Now love and hope is all I find.