I Am A Phoenix

I remember my life as a child,
One never cried within our house…
Suffering in silence, safer;
My dad the cat, myself the mouse.

Complained once I was bullied,
My school a dangerous place…
My father’s advice was beat them up.
Or he himself, would break my face.

Hiding safely under blankets,
Escaping sounds of breaking wood.
Fantasies of calmer families
And…flying if I could.

My mother sat upon my bed,
“Your father’s sorry for your pain”,
I said he could not be pardoned,
I’d never live like that again.

I grabbed an onyx donkey,
To throw in anger at the wall,
Only to remember my father…
I did not toss it after all.