Father
When what we tradedWere angry words,
And silent stares,
When we each healed our own wounds
With the salve of our pride
That kept us from admitting our need
One for the other,
Kept us from saying,
I love you-
Please, accept me and love me in return-
In those times and years now gone,
The emptiness we chose was not
Unacceptance of each other,
It was unacceptance of ourselves;
You for you, and me for me,
That kept us from embracing each other,
That kept us standing apart,
Defenses up,
Sparring with our hurt.
When all we ever really wanted
Was to say, "I love you."
Please login or register
You must be logged in or register a new account in order to
Login or Registerleave comments/feedback and rate this poem.