No one believed in him.
Night to day, a bottle at his lips
as if it were the air he breathed,
as if it were the only thing that stayed.
No one believed in him.
But I did.
When I came along, I thought
he’d set the bottles down,
choose us, choose himself,
and rise into the man he wanted to be.
He never got the chance
to prove them wrong.
But I know deep down, I know
he would have fought his way back,
would have clawed toward better days
for the family he dreamed of.
All he ever wanted was a daughter.
And when he finally held that dream,
life took him away
before he could become
the girl dad he always meant to be.
But I believe in the man he was becoming.
I believe he would’ve gotten sober.
I believe he would’ve been a good father
the kind who stands tall for his own,
even for the ones
who never believed in him,
even for the ones
who speak down on him now
when he can’t speak back.
I believe he would’ve stayed.
I believe he would’ve healed.
I believe in him
I always have,
and I always will.
-
Author:
Ashlie Dickinson (
Offline) - Published: January 10th, 2026 04:20
- Comment from author about the poem: I lost my father a week and two days before my 6th birthday in a car vs bicycle accident to a drunk driver. My father was an alcoholic his mom, my mom and I thought I was going to be one thing that would get him to put the bottle down and get sober. Everyone withheld the information of his death till after my birthday party when I kept asking where my dad was, asking to call him to see if he was okay because he'd never miss my birthday no matter what he always showed up. That's when I was informed my father had passed away and I lost my hero and he never got to be the man we know he could have been and everyone still talks down upon him for being an alcoholic.
- Category: Sad
- Views: 2
Offline)
Comments1
A sad poem of loss not only of a person but what that person could have been. An illness does not define a person, we used to isolate the lepers now we shun the addicts and mentally ill. We live in a world of ignorance. A heart touching write.
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