Infected Reflection

  

Sitting in the dark

Under the covers

In hopes the monster

Will not find him.

All though not cold

He shivers and wanders

Is tonight pain free

Or will the hand

That should protect

Be his agony.

Why oh why

He cries inside

So no one hears the fear

Buried within his heart.

On and on he prays

Till the day of freedom,

Free to be the man

His father never was…

In stead he wakes to find

The monster he once feared

Is now unwillingly

In the mirror.

Reviews

[Theresa]

It reminds me of the saying "Mirror Mirror on the wall I am my mother after all." Something so many people swear they will never be, but always find traces of them within. A wonderful write that is very powerful. In the end though you will be who you want to be and the traces of your parents will be their good qualities. =)

[THERISA]

Dale, you've accurately describe the feeling of fear, in your poem's young man. Wish i could say, its easy to walk away from abuse without carrying any scars, but i would be lying to all. It takes considerable effort to break this circle and move on. Thank you, for sharing this troubling poem with us.

[cest la vie]

As the children of our parents, of course we will have inherited traits. It is up to the known person to recognize and embrace the good traits and discard the less desireable ones.
Nicely done, Dale.

[Coyote Poetry]

A powerful poem. The cycle of pain and anger is hard to stop. Description was perfect. Fear could be felt in the words of your poem. A lot of us fall into our father's nightmares.
Coyote

[Sheila Kline]

We are our father's children, but thank God we have free will to overcome that which has come into our life, or been passed down through our DNA! Sometimes, it is so very difficult to overcome habits that at times are like second nature to us, but with help and persistence, it may be done!
Your heart shines brightly in this one Dale!
The line
he prays to the day of freedom
is so very touching!!

[Wicahpi]

I think at some point fears the 'monster' we all hope not to be.
This is a well written expression of that fear.
Well done. I enjoyed the read!

[Tina Kline]

This poem has quite the emotional impact. We always think we won't be like our parents then so often wake up and find we are. It takes effort not to be. Really like your poem here.

[Bud]

No matter how hard we try to do otherwise, we still tend to have traits of one or both of our parents that we totally disagree with or simply can't stand. It takes generations, and a conscious effort to break the cycle. I know I catch myself doing things like my dad has done. And usually it's the things I said I would never do. I've learned to stop saying never. Outstanding piece Dale, as usual. This one has a strong message in it.

[emmajoy]

Reflected DNA .. we are what our parents leave us with .. but we so easily add our own gentleness and discretion .. affection and gallantry .. as you do, Dale. Of course we inherit maybe a quick temper, a caustic tongue or an over-noisy laugh .. but they're all controllable .. we just have to recognise them.

Maybe that's the 'thing' - having the ability to see the bad traits in our character and to do something about them .. now and again it's impossible .. but it's do-able.

Your words always have a depth, whatever the subject .. ' On and on he prays Till the day of freedom,
Free to be the man His father never was� ' those are really the heart of your post .. as i see it.

[Phibby Venable]

a lot of insight here and depth..hard to defeat a monster that is so old
and a part of things, but he can be defeated. Wise and fine!