"I Remember the Day"
By: Terry Kemp
I remember the day the cops and the medics came
You’d been screaming and hollering for help
But suddenly it got quiet before they busted your door,
And under the dresser, the clothes, and your bed…
You were buried.
The power of a tornado in a room 6' by 9'?
How in the world did that possibly happen?
Was it you or some force that sent it all flying,
And when I found you, were you dead…
Or just dying?
Mommy, sweet Mommy! Who were you fighting?
"Get off me! Away from me! Help me!" I heard from behind the door.
Earlier that day, you squirmed across the floor
Nylons ripped up, skirt around your waist
You slithered headfirst down the stairs like a snake
All the while laughing the low voice of the devil…
Who are these demons that come after you?
Did your family bring this on you?
Did they lie, were they lonely and hungry like you?
Or mean and greedy like your ruthless brother,
Who cut off your ear and beat up your mother?
Were they careless and cold like your worthless father who
Slit your cat’s throat and pushed away your daughter?
Or bawdy and haughty like your so-called mother, who,
When you told her your brother got hit by a car,
Gave you a nickel from the man at the bar?
Oh, the story of your life, you could write a book,
But like you’ve always said, who would believe it?
Your raging childhood, a painful past,
How did you ever live through it?
Did you live through it, I wonder, are you here?
Is this nightmare I live yours or mine?
Tossed with a tempest, a storm rolls through,
Then in the quiet…I look for you.
"Herself"
By: Mitch Ryan
I
I shall never strike a woman
For I know
That God
Herself
Will strike me down
