Should Have Been Me

The sad reality facing fatherless children

My eyes and their hurtful lies

They show me a familiar face

But I know this is one they never truly knew

And though from afar

These eyes of mine

Affixed to this face in my likeness I now see

As sure as the air is free

This face I now see

Never desired to know me

 

And though you don’t see from where you stand

I speak to you aloud as if you can

You’re that carbon copy of a man

The original author of me

Who owns all my features

Your only job to do what she couldn’t

To enlighten and make this boy a man

But I no longer obsess with why you wouldn’t

 

Because now it’s too late

I’m already broken

As a child, instead of with you I sat hoping

And threw my ball against a loveless wall

While you were on the first train smokin’

You

So unwilling

And I

Your unworthy seed

Regrettably stamped with your miserable seal

You’ve been a regular collector of dust in my mind’s projector

And the primary reason I no longer feel

 

So now

As I see your disloyal smile

Wide as the Nile

Holding what I can only assume the hand of your replacement child

I convince myself to let go and live free

But this fever in my heart will make a troublesome fresh start

Just knowing

That should have been me

Author's Note

We all need to ensure we handle our responsibilities as fathers because the guidance of a man is crucial to the development of our sons and daughters