Memories Darken the Corners of my Mind

Hearing my father
Key holder
To my Mother's gatekeeper
Of life
Beat her
On Christmas morning
Such young vivre
In my solar plexus
Bereft of light
Deprived of oxygen
Killed parts of a child
This seedling choked
Such a little helpless person
Why did Mother cry for us
Why did she beseech me
And brother for help
That she knew we could not give?
Why did she mark us
Make us guilty party
To father's destruction?
In desperation
My love more succinct
My disappointment
My terror
All equal
Bigger than all of us
Fractured ghosts.