the choice

if i could catch you like a dark firefly

and hold you in my hand

prick my thumb with your mosquito’s tongue

till your eyes glowed bright again

then i would think my life completed

that i had finally done my part

and as my soul depleted

give my blood, not just my heart

but you are not an insect

to spare or slay with a swatter

and i am not so perfect

yet i claim you as my daughter

and life is not so gentle

and fate is never kind

and the price of love parental

is to give up love that’s blind

so i sit in stony silence

as befits a man who’s died

watch you suffer another’s violence

bear the bruises of false pride

i scream behind lips tightly stitched

burning bile has stole my voice

knowing you, alone, must come un-bewitched

and the best i have to offer you is


the choice