You learned to be a victim, at a very early age
Father beating mother and witnessing the rage

Crying mother in the night, her pleas that went unheard
Knowing that it wasn't right, your life you thought absurd

Mother learned from mother, then passed it down to you
There is no blame, there is no shame, for it's all you ever knew

Now the time has come my friend, to rise and fly above
You have a daughter of your own, the one you truly love

You say that you're a writer, you wield a mighty pen
I say to you, "then write your life," pay attention to the end

Write of new beginnings, your history be ******
Write of all your strength, and love, and feel your joy expand

So be the author of your life, your legacy control
Now break the cycle of abuse, dig deep within your soul

On stormy seas your daughter sails, seeking mother's light
So brilliant shine the life you pen, to guide her through the night

The darker side of my mind is where
Abstractions of fragmented poetry breeds;
A baby lies dead in a Hong Kong gutter,
And my lines fall into place.

Broken hearts sing lullabies to me,
Two savage beatings spare me a verse,
New Orleans lends me four at low interest,
And throws in a haiku for free.

The old veteran quotes me three lines
And gets buried with the last.
The rhyme festers with his body;
Both soldier
                      and verse
            are
                       free
                                       again.

I can't explain the beauty I see
In the dying faces of the abandoned ones,
Nor tell you why, if the bomb were dropped tomorrow
I should weep in both anguish and delight.

I can only tell you, should it all end,
Should all modern horrors dissapear,
The future will weep for the joys of the present
And smiles will dissapear forever