HOUSE OF MIRRORS

"I hate him."
"But he's perfectly fine."

"Fine? That arrogant b*****d is fine?"
"Not arrogant...just honest.
He says what others only think."

"Honest? He's cruel. He's crass."
"Would you rather he lie?
Smile while stabbing you softly
with pretty words?"

"He's a bigot. Plain and simple."
"He's flawed. Like all of us.
Even you."

"I hate him."
"I like him."

"Then you're as bad as he is."
"And you're as blind as you claim I am."

A moment hangs between them...
neither wrong, neither right.
Just two siblings staring at the same man
and seeing different fathers.

"How can we both be looking
at the same person?"

"We're not.
You see the anger that scared you.
I see the strength that saved me.
We're both just seeing what we needed to survive."

"He was there for you."

"He failed you."

"Yes."

"Yes."

They sit with this...
two children of the same house,
two versions of the same childhood,
both true.

The silence that follows
is not agreement...
but it is the first time
they've stopped trying to convince each other
that their father was only one thing.

He was never only one thing.

Reviews

[Travis Gibson (poetic h..]

It's facing this truth about my parents that allowed me to face it within myself. It's the force that allowed me to face it within myself and break some generational curses. Strong piece!

[Akinlolu]

Thanks for the feedback my friend