A Failure of Parents

As a neglected child

I learned to 

Fear

And hate

Attention 

Because if someone

Wasn't ignoring you

They were

Yelling

Or belittling 

So I became 

The shadows

Silent and cold

Or a doormat

Stepped on

Scraped

Afraid of sounds

Dreading conflict 

Yet somehow

Silence unnerved me

Like a calm

Before a 

Violent storm

Anguish, sadness, and pain

Woven together in 

A long braid

A childhood

As an open wound

And still

Much later

I bleed




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