Dead Girls Tell No Lies: A Novel In Poems

Page Nine: After Matty

Daddy got worse,

Mama got worse,

And I stopped being a child.

Daddy kept on drinking.

Daddy kept on yelling

And then one day

Daddy started hitting.

I grew up fast,

I grew up hard.

And I was always on the wrong end

Of Daddy's newley discovered backhand.

Mama kept on crying,

Mama kept on complaining

And she threatened to leave everday.

But she never did.

I guess she was afraid.

I uess she thought Daddy would catch her.

And beat her even worse.

And she might have been right.