the pusillanimous parent

“Well, if you told me you were drowning/ I would not lend a hand/ I've seen your face before my friend/ But I don't know if you know who I am” -taken from “In The Air Tonight,” by Phil Collins

behind of a supposed strong & mature “adult”

who advertises to others their ability to

“discipline” their child,

lies a great fear stirring,

which comes out in the actions taken to make

that little child submit to their will

from early on---

when rebelled against,

the pusillanimous parent lashes out like a

dictator trying to hold onto a dwindling empire

forcing the young one to do as they are told,

often doing their best not to laugh at what they believe to be

the utter powerlessness of this being

that they have dragged into this world

without having gained permission to do so---

hiding behind religious babblings

that cheer on those that beat the little one physically or

psychologically

all in the name of feeling powerful,

so that when the “adult” comes home from a day of

being ignored & disrespected in the work place or

cast out in any number of the relationships with other human beings

that they themselves have created as products of their own

choices (so unlike the child they “discipline”),

they can feel as if they still have an iota of control left in their lives---

that they can still mold something into what they want it to be

without it launching a full attack upon

them,

from which they may never fully recover---

and though this may be the way that the “adult” was treated

when they themselves were developing,

such repetition only increases & prolongs

the severe cycle of abuse,

whose domino effect of violence & mental obliteration

echoes throughout the rest of society

smashing from hand to hand

with so many acting as if this is a healthy way to treat others

with so many acting as if

this had to be done,

while in reality this “adult” is the biggest coward of them all,

having gotten into more than they bargained for,

having not thought too long before

producing another human being.