There ain’t a bone of resentment in my body.
Just with momma being gone,
Knowing not to speak ill of the dead,
I chose you instead.

For years I held on to the notion
I wasn’t enough for you to change.
No, I wasn’t enraged;
Dad, I was in pain.

But the realization:
You’d pick a cell over me.
Now, that’s why I reject the constrictions
Of any box they attempt to put me within.

See, from you I learned my greatest lesson:
Those obstacles were put in my path
Because it wasn’t my direction—
I was just blinded by your reflection.


© Jacasso

#poem #poetry #blackpoet