daddy

Sorry daddy
Didn't mean for you to walk out that door.
Didn't mean for mommy to yell you out the window.

Should have known when you started laying out a suitcase each morning
On your bed that's now covered in dust.
Should have know when you started giving me the saddest eyes
When I said "Bye Daddy!"
Should have known when you started sitting in the car
For hours and hours looking blankly ahead.
Should have known when you started coming home later and later
each night

Now you're just standing here, all alone.
Mommy's got a new set of pills in the bathroom
And she doesn't bother to look at me anymore.
uneasy silence
Is this the time when I should start worrying?
Is this a fading dream or a creeping reality?

Nightmare Number One: Expectations

By Tasha Marie Litchfield
Spaulding High School, Grade 11
Sipping
Mountain Dew
to disguise
pungent
vodka
creeping
from every breath,
chewing aspirin
by-products
with acidic searing
to taste buds,
quick fix
for another
high headache.

long-sleeve shirts
ripped
at the seams
but
the cloth lingers
hiding wrists
and railroads
of scars.