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The Bars Between Us
My face hits the glass
The glass with no way through it
I run my hands down the barrier this place has created
Between me and my papa
I look at him as he looks at me
With those deep blue eyes
Those we have in common
Except mine are filled with tears
His are emotionless
How is it possible for one to be so close?
Yet so very far
He doesn’t say a single word to me
Leaving me wondering if he
Even
Cares
Doesn’t tell me he loves me
Or even says those very false words
“It’ll be okay”
We all know it won’t
At least that’s how it seems to be
For me
Mama tried to pull me away
Telling me I’ll see him soon
Not for another 15 years
Why do I only beg for 5 more minutes?
When I should have a lifetime
A lifetime full of playing on the playground
Him pushing me on the swings
Running around
Smiling
Laughing
For the past 10 years I haven’t laughed
Haven’t smiled
Haven’t seen my papa
Why did he do this to me?
He must’ve had a choice
This didn’t have to happen
He made this our reality
And now on this very day
I sit across from him
Looking at this man I call my father
Wondering where it all went wrong
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This piece was inspired by a slam poem we listened to in my english class. It was a man speaking about his father who is in jail, and how it changed his childhood. One of the lines he says is, "25 years later, I write these words for the little boy in me who still awaits his papa's knock." Just by listening to the amount of emotion that was expressed in the piece, inspired me to write one of my own. Although I cannot personally relate to this experience, it made me feel and picture what it must've been like to go through. Hopefully my poem does the same.