27. Pressure

I can't hate you

At least not anymore

In fact I pity you

I wouldn't wish to be you

Your Dad had a legacy

Big shoes you had to fill

It was never your choice to make

Your destiny was written for you

You were always so mean

Because school was the only place

Where you had control

And you were trying to prove yourself

What would have happened

If you weren't a star athlete?

And if instead you'd told you Dad

“I want to be an architect”

What if you'd stood up
For what it was you really wanted?

You were too terrified of disappointing him

So you pushed your own dreams aside

You bullied me every day

Because it made your friends think you were tough
You were so obsessed with your image

Because you had big shoes to fill

Now I can't hate you

At least not anymore

Not now that I finally understand

What made you the way you are

Author's Note

This poem is about someone who bullied me in elementary school. His father was a well respected athlete in our community, and this is about the bully feeling the pressure to measure up to his dad and me sort of forgiving him for the way he treated me.