Poem by Saoirse Jane Donnelly
You scream unrelentingly down the phone
Change your tone then tell me you love me and to come home
I listen and come back like a dog with a bone
A family of six and still feel alone
So scared to speak up that I’m forced to write a poem
I show you the life I’m stitching on my own
You rip the seams from your drug fuelled throne
Threaten to beat her if I don’t give you a loan
So I oblige and get informed I’m being disowned
The childish and violent tendencies I thought you’d outgrown
Linger around like a cheap cologne
Sentenced to a life in purgatory fearing the unknown
Begging for you to take my hand for help and atone
You spit in my face and blast Leonard Cohen
I want to say this isn’t you and it’s just a clone
But it’s been twenty years and this is all I’ve ever known
One day I’ll fight back and you’ll be overthrown
But you created me, I’m built from your bones
Eternal love remains unshown
You’re meant to be my safe place, not my war zone
Snap my heels together three times letting out a groan
That movie we used to watch religiously was right, there really is no place like home.
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