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Poem 2:

Forgiving My Father

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I’d like to forgive you, Father,

but I don’t know your heart.

Your face, is it a mirror image of mine?

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I’d like to forgive you, Father,

but I find your absence a fire

that your face might be able to extinguish.

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I’d like to forgive you, Father,

but my last name isn’t the same as yours

like it’s supposed to be.

You rejected me, Dad,

but can I sympathize with your ignorance?

For all the birthdays

you didn’t send me a card,

for the Christmases

when I’d wake up,

and you weren’t sitting by the tree

waiting for me

I can’t forgive you.

What about the summer nights

where prospects of you began to fade?

Fade like you did 17 years ago.

Out of my life.

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I’d like to forgive you, Father,

but I don’t know you.

And for that,

I hate you.

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Justin Morris

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