"NAMES"

Your mother's name was "only once".
Which was the number of times that she hit you.
And your father's name was "anywhere".
Which was from where he was willing to pick you up
and kiss your bruises.
Your middle name was "forgotten."

Which is what happened
to your mother's promise
to never hit you again.
Your mother kept hitting you,
but her name was still "only once",
but now it was the number of more times
she said you would need to forgive her.
Your father was the more calm
and patient of your parents.
But your father had died in a car crash
when he had rushed out upset one night
after one of their fights.
And your middle name was "Forgotten"
which was what was starting to happen
to your father,
as each year went by.

And your mother's name was "only once"
which was the number of times
really the number of times,
that was all it took,
that you needed to forgive her,
after your father died.
And your father's name was "anywhere"
which is where you saw him
when you were walking around.

And your middle name was "forgotten"
which was where the pain
from your childhood had gone,
now, after all these years.

Copyright Š2018 Ashi Shadow - 5/1/18 inspired by a couple of words in one of Daje Morris's poems.
Something about a name.