Daddy’s Dead
by Rachael Templeton
Mama daddy’s dead
He went fishing in a bottle of beer
Got ensnared by his own lure
Hooked
He took his time till it filled every cut
Burned by the salt
He screamed with his mouth closed
Stitched by denial and tongues bitten
He kept up appearances
A member of the living dead
Dancing with the devil by record players screech
A mix of Spanish and Elvis
He would sing while drowning
Don’t worry I buried him somewhere in my mind
Adorned his grave in the times of his sobriety
And refuse to remember anything else
Hate doesn’t deserve a spot amongst his memory
A gun pointed at his head never pulled but always there deserves it
The bottle that tricks and the ghosts that haunt don’t deserve it
But the days he picked them over the taste of heaven always have my hate
To love one such as him merits some insanity but daddy’s a father
He gets some love some touch of humanity
Daddy’s dead Mama
And I forgive him