The Best Birthday Present Ever

Every time I pick up a pen
I think to myself
Please write something worthwhile
Some words that inspire
A piece that's uplifting
Anything that anyone can like without lying

Then I sit staring thoughtless without a clue
Until flashbacks when I was 12
Father drunk again
So we was hiding again
Picked my paper up from the dinner table
To let me know again
Only gays write poetry
He's yelling
That shit is a waste of time
Like your birth was a waste of a life
You can't be my son

We were always going to be leaving
She kept promising
My last ass beating came the same day I turned 16
Happy birthday to me
I been running from that house since
36 and still have nightmares of that man
I love you mom but I couldn't live that life anymore
You deserved a king
But settled for the devil
You didn't have to run
I offered to carry you
Looking back I should've dragged you
I forgive you for those broken promises

By the way DAD
I turned out straight
Graduated high school and went to community college
Did 2 years at state university
Now I spend my days helping kids get through the shit I did
Nights and weekends spent being a proud husband and a grateful father
You should've tried it
A lot better then alcohol
You may have have rattled me for awhile
But you didn't ruin me

By the way
mom
Thanks for making me a man