She comes home Tear filled eyes Red rimed eyes Pleading Pleading for a simple explanation “He pulled my hair on the playground” Reaching down Hugging her Tight “my baby My beautiful beautiful Baby, He just wants your attention He likes you.” As if raising a hand to a women Calling her ***** Means I love you I respect you.
I shouldn’t have been surprised When at 16 She comes home Shaking Shaking and wondering “Why does it hurt?” These bruises are love My bleeding lip Is proof Of his love Bruises she hides Covers up From me I taught her This is love Harsh words And fast hands
Listening to her Cry late at night Asking Asking god for help To get him to stop Hurting her But never once Realizing All she has to do is leave But she can’t Because I taught her This is love She thinks she will never be good enough For someone else She believes when he says “I love you I want you Forever” Yet when she turns around She feels the sting Of a slap Hears him say “***** You are lucky no one else will want you.”
Years of therapy And a lifetime of learning Learning to love herself Learning that bruises He gave her Was not what love looks like Learning to say no Learning it is okay to walk away To leave him Like the piece of trash He is It takes a lifetime To finally believe the truth The truth
All because I taught her When a boy pushes her On the playground Calls her names It means that he likes her As if like and hate were the same As if respect meant disrespect As if love Love is selfish Love is the man’s will To bow down Because abuse Is love
Regretting teaching her Leading her astray From words Words I thought were innocent Not realizing The impact I had On my daughter Words are power Lessons are engraved In a child’s brain Innocent phrases become weapons Weapons that tear apart Their life Teaching them without realizing We as mothers As fathers Need to learn that our children’s heart And mind is not to play with Don’t teach your daughter Something you will Regret when she takes it To heart Takes it as truth