Purple stamped sunbeams beneath the arch of the earth
Quivering tears reveals the rays
Grazed willows laced with sun kissed skin
A bloodshot galaxy sputtering stars tucking the darkness in

I felt you  put me on a pedestal
Until the  day you pushed me down
A bridge of bruises spans our time
I kiss the floorboards of broken promises
Pieces of my tooth dance across the floor
Yet, I handed you my spine
A rope of glass shards I can't hold on
The sky is corroded with my pain

Your hair catches the clouds, floating shadows of youth
Skin drenched  with beauty, lullabies and raindrops
You're a night swimmer in the sea
A daughter of a poet, with a  morning tongue
As your ribs split into shreds,  shaping the rust along your chest
Your fingertips touch the stars, erasing the nightmares of your scars

He told me to *******.
He said the situation was *******
He gave me the finger
And walked out slamming the door behind him
He is my 11 year old son

He yelled, “What the ****?”
He told me to get out
And tried to wrestle me out the door of his bedroom
I got the drop on him
Pinned him to the floor
Then he yelled “MOM”
She took my side and screamed at him.
That was my 14 year old.

Both boys swear, say inappropriate things, demand, and act like spoiled brats
I still love them.
But I've had to start lifting weights
I’ve had to start working out
They are getting stronger
I know eventually one of them will take a swing at me.

Some people say beat them
I’ve tried
They keep coming back for more
They like it

My wife defends herself with psychological warfare
The children think she is crazy
and are afraid of her
If ever completely unleashed, the full power of her unpredictable female emotional psyche could take out small city
Leaving many permanently brain dead
She's too humane to torture their young minds for any extended period of time.  
I won’t go into the details regarding what she has done to my mind.  But think coercion, bribery, guilt, seduction, isolation, etc……

When people say modern family
Divorce, homosexual parents, blended families might come to mind.
Our modern family is a little bit CIA training, little bit UFC, sprinkled with God, Xbox, Disney channel, and Adult Swim.

How did things get this way?
I don’t know
Where is it headed?
It’s all uncharted territory
We’re fighters
I am confident they will make it to adult hood without too many battle scars
In the back my mind I can’t help but wonder what lies ahead?  
My oldest starts high school next year

Painting winters wind, on pieces of a angels breeze
Wearing pride into the dancing sea
Unfolding the bruises  into thee

The spinning of eyelids, fractures sleep
As the canvas of a caged masterpiece, drifts into the wind
Slivers in the pockets of illusions, tormenting core of winters seed
Footsteps knot the strings of kaleidoscopes
Reincarnating the heartaches of before
Silhouettes of moon stones jumbled on the wings of space
Galaxies of meteorites entering the atmosphere interlocking fate

Eyelids of contusions smudged with bones
Winter waves grip my stripped wrists
A graceless waltz, stumbling, flailing
Strings of a marionette, gnawed by unbending stars
Trapeze walking through dizzying hills


Graffiti on my heart disfigures
Unyielding, plunging knives into memories
My hearts compass spins wildly
No direction, blindly traipsing in circles
Gazing through windowpanes of steel