Mother’s Day, 2005
Fuck a subtitle
She called herself my friend
and accused me of her own wrongdoing, said I used
my daughter
to get what I want while
I was sacrificing my entire self
to provide,
after this friend dragged me to a Mother’s Day pool party
she wanted to attend,
complete with friends of the man
who abandoned me and
my daughter,
his daughter.
It was like being under
a microscope, everyone
analyzing and judging me
while other fathers
rubbed sunscreen on their
children’s backs to give the moms
a break. Everyone else
enjoying cold beer on a hot day
while I abstained
for the safety of the children;
In my honor, I was shamed
into being an admission ticket
for the pleasure of a girl
who never created a life of her own,
another parasite
in sterile, chlorinated water.
When the accusation was made,
I threw a punch.
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
Reader insights
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Original narrative & well developed characters
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The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Writing reflected the title & theme
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Letter to my Daughter
You have a choice to make here: are you going to continue the cycle, or are you going to break it? Keeping your son away from me hurts him; there’s no question about that. I thought you were being hurt, and I was trying to protect you, not punish anyone when I kept your grandfather away from you. I have said that I was wrong and I am sorry, but there was never any malice involved.
By Harper LewisExclusive • 2 months ago
Day 4 of Quitting
If this is how sobriety feels, maybe it’s better to go through life a little buzzed… this, along with other hits like, I want to kill myself, I wish I was dead, and I’m going to throw myself off a bridge have been the only thoughts on rotation these past few days. I promise myself that if, in a month, I still feel like this (‘this’ meaning despondent, full of rage, and simultaneously numb) I can go back to smoking. Until mid-February though? Nicotine is off the table.
By sleepy drafts7 days ago in Longevity
Comments (2)
Wow… this one hit deep. 💔 The mix of betrayal and strength here is so raw. The setting — that pool, those fathers, the “sterile, chlorinated water” — says so much without needing to explain. You painted the contrast between care and cruelty so vividly that I could feel the sting of it. And that ending… sharp, shocking, but completely earned. Sometimes pain leaves no other language.
The subtitle was hilarious 🤣 🫂Oh no. Friends of the one who betrayed us. We don't want to see them at all. I can only imagine how unbearable that must've been. Love the description of the water. The sterile chlorinated water. It placed me right where you were. I could even smell it. 🫂That last line. Always love a surprise at the end. This was an awful experience for anyone to have. Especially when the other fathers were giving the mothers a break. You sadly had to hold everything together on your own. Nothing about that was fair. I am sorry 🤗🖤❤️