How you must have looked
Before your dad
Beat you down daily
Before life's responsibilities
Killed your soul
Before the booze
Claimed your liver
Before the women
Left you lonely
Before you walked out
On your family
Here I stand
Four
Decades
Later
In a crowded bar
Whiskey in my hand
Loud music in my ears
Feeling like a lost little girl
From seeing you in
A stranger's face
Memories sharp like knives
How many times will I bleed
Before letting go?
~Amber C. Smith 2014
