Dear Daddy,
Heather Dyer
I’d really like to thank you--
for calling me “Bitch”
whenever you damned me.
God has me
under a different name.
He doesn’t want revenge
for what I did;
they say his arms are long
enough to embrace the universe.
How could He blame me for running
away from what He
holds at arm’s
length, letting you live on
in spite of the stinking
smoke that would curl out of the
rot if anyone touched you.
In spite of the drinking
that would pour in urine,
whiskey, and lots of spit.
Daddy, daddy--don’t ever change.
If you do, I’ll pray for a devil
with an onion
and I’ll let them all hang
on.
You won’t change;
your closet is full of empty hangers.
But I’m planting extra strong white ones--
Just in case.
Footnote:
This poem alludes to a biblical story which is summarized as follows:
Once there was a sinful woman who died and went to hell. Her guardian angel went before the Lord and asked for her salvation on the basis that she had once given an onion to a beggar. On hearing this, the Lord told the angel to take an onion and use it to pull the woman out of hell. When the angel did so, the other souls in hell grabbed onto the woman in the hope that they too would be saved. The woman, fearing the added weight would cause the onion to break, kicked them away. As soon as she did this, the onion broke and she fell back into the pit of fire. The angel then told her that, if only she had had the kindness to allow the others to hold on, they all would have been saved.
