When Crystal’s cat got run over
She cried.
She was six
And small
But Bill said, “You want
Something to cry about?
I’ll give you
Something to cry about!”
...He peeled an onion.
Crystal sat -
(was it an hour?)
Nose to onion -
Tears flowing,
Heart breaking -
With no tenderness
Anywhere.
I was seven
And understood disgust
And hate, in a deeper way.
I was glad
Bill was her father -
Not mine.
I knew also
I loved her more
Than Bill did.
Joan Clifton Costner
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