Poem – War Child

Locked away choices,
false central rules.
Saying you’re kind
when you’re really cruel.
You watched us get beaten,
married to him.
A man we called “father.”

Within tunnel vision,
you denied the truth
as our realities got smashed.
His hand always came down
to smack and not pat my head.
Shocked into stress vision,
all life was like that.

Now, trapped in a maze
you hold the door
to validate me.
To say he was wrong
when he held a knife to my throat
or tried to put a bullet in my head.
I’m locked away in a lie,
truth be our best friend.

R.A. Feller