PARENTS
Cheryl A. Townsend
18 years of belt
buckles closed fists and
words other than love
nights of sleepless fear
of whatever rage would
walk through the front door
in the face of a father my
mother deaf dumb and blind
to the bruises and blood as
long as she made it to bingo
for the early bird specials
leaving nothing behind but
the overpowering smell of
her perfume and a need for
a little more
