How Dare You

How dare you compare yourself to me
How dare you lie and change history
The victors write the history,
         but you, father, are not the victor
I have won
I have broken the chain and cast the yoke of abuse and neglect aside.
I have won because I do not wish to view life
         through the bottom of a beer glass
I meet life head on, with a sober mind and a clear sense of purpose
Am I afraid? Yes
Do I get frustrated? Yes
Is life difficulty? Most certainly
But that will not deter me from my goal, which is to be a guide
The next generation will not know what it is like to never be told “I Love You”
         Or “I’m Proud of You”
He will not be held in contempt because he is loved by his mother
Unlike you, I know the difference in the love of a wife and the love of a mother.
A woman’s heart is big enough for both, God made it that way on purpose.
The next generation will never feel alone,
         even though I am sitting next to him.
His opinion, feelings and emotions will be valid,
         regardless of what I think. They will be heard.
The next generation will spend the summers playing catch, fishing, camping, riding bicycles, all the things little boys are supposed to do.
Not sit on a bar stool watching his father drink himself into oblivion, then stumble home to pass out in bed, leaving the child to fend for himself.
Time spent together will be more than traveling from bar to bar to meet other men with the same inability to deal with this thing called life.
Beatings will not be dished out randomly for minute, nor imaginary, offenses. Neither will tongue lashings.
Discipline is important to raising children,
         But so is love and understanding.
There is nothing in this world more powerful than the love of a child.
It is simple and unencumbered.
And it takes a hell of a lot to destroy it,
         yet you managed.
Do not lie to make yourself seem better,
         The truth is already known and it has been spoken