REMEMBERS FATHER.

A WOMAN REMEMBERS HER FATHER.

Father, she remembers,
Beat Mother, raised his
Hand in some kind of

Demonic blessing. The
Memories come like
Unwelcome guests at

A wedding, all settling
Themselves down, all
Demanding attention.

She, however he never
Touched, never raised
A hand or voice or chided

In anyway that she recalls,
Looking around the rooms
Of their old house, the

Smell still there, the smell
Of unhappiness and fears.
The funeral went well as

Funerals can, the mourners
Did what mourners do and
Having done moved on with

Life and other cares. Father
Died well; gently, unhurried,
The cancer came and did its

Part and made no fuss and
Carried him off. She pauses.
The pictures on the walls are

Still the same, the curtains,
The photographs, their old
Furniture, the chair where

Father sat and ruled. She
Brushes a hand on top of them
Looking for dust or dirt, but

There is none, all is polished
And clean and neat and tidy,
Unlike the memories that

Haunt her now. Mother sits
In a nursing home dying day
By day remembering little of

Her yesterdays or days just
The occasional words to dead
Or imagined friends who come.

She wonders if that’s how all
Life ends, piece by piece, bit by
Bit, the memories and all that

Going into the dark night of death.
Father, she remembers, beat Mother,
And that memory remains ingrained

Like some scar on skin. Mother
Remembers nothing much, all gone,
All forgotten: the rows, the beatings,

Her husband’s touch. Walking away
From room to room, giving each a
Final stare, she wishes she could leave

Her memories behind, haunting the
House and like ghosts, resting there.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Poem tells a powerful story. I watched my father beat my mother. I remember being tossed away trying to protect her. Poem story is hard and cold. Some woman like my mother found a good man who treat her with respect. The past can fade away. The ending lines could be a poem. The past can haunt us.
Coyote