Secrets, Shame And Finally, Forgiveness

Those ghosts from your past

that you kept locked in your closet

Those dark glances amassed

scare me deeply, if I’m honest

Though I never saw it in person

I know the stories are true

Those tales of perversion

that haunted you too

I would have never imagined

it sent chills up my spine

You locked him alone in the closet

duplicating design

The look of shock on my face

followed by soft, burning tears

I'd hold you in my embrace

if only I had you here

For the lessons he taught you

were carried down generations

The struggles no one knew

now need no explanation

That little girl that you were

frightened and put in her place

You repeated in turn

as your children begged for grace

One that never arrived

until the medicine calmed

Loosing the demon inside

as I sat there and cried

A side of you I never met

It's been eight years since you passed

Burning like a cigarette

the consequences of the past

Revealing the truth that was lost

that might have made things okay

Another ultimate cost

of the things they don't say

****

A/N

I recently heard some stories about my mom, from when she was a child, that I'd never heard before.

Apparently she said she would see spirits drifting in and out of their bedroom closet and her father, monopolizing on those fears, would lock her in the closet where she had seen these strange happenings, as punishment.

As an adult she struggled with bipolar disorder and was also abusive, mostly to my sisters. But last week my twin brother told me that she would turn off all the lights and lock him in his room. Then, she would open the closet door so the spirits could teach him a lesson, much like her daddy had done to her.

I was in shock and kept saying, "you're lying..." he said no, she'd done in on a couple different occasions. How did this slip by me.

I felt so sad for him and then, for her...I had no idea she went through the very things she imposed on her children.

So, of course...a poem

Thank you for reading