Father

I remember the screams and the fights  
And how they kept me awake all those nights  
I remember how you used to break things with your fists  
Getting angrier when you hurt your wrists  
   
You used to yell about how we were to blame  
How your life was going down the drain  
And how we were the reason your life was falling apart  
I remember watching my mother cry when you broke her heart  
   
While mother would read to us and sing lullabies  
You were always saying your goodbyes  
I Remember waiting for you to come back  
Counting the hours, until I lost track  
   
You would come home drunk and yell some more  
Screaming at us about some forgotten chore  
You were never happy, always mad  
And I remember wishing you weren't my dad
   
Then one day you were gone  
And I couldn't understand what I had done  
I was too little to realize that it wasn't my fault  
That this was just another memory to be locked in a vault  
   
I was five when you looked me in the eye  
And told me you no longer loved me  
I remember how you called my mother a whore  
Just as you walked out the door