he wrote
badly crafted verses
slinging slurs
while she put his unwanted child
to her breast
he danced with brunettes
and redheads
she danced with an infant
in a homeless shelter
tears fell on the fresh head
joy
she had found
a reason
to live
a daughter
She named her new life "Bella"
He called it "handout" "shame"
and animal "scat"
the test said she carried his DNA
he looked in that face
and said
she's no child of mine
He kept a cutter
and told her she's "fragile"
he threw away a baby
and called her mother a rat
He scrambled numbers
and wrote angry checks to the State
She left a door for him to go
pushingpushingpushing
him gently
to walk
He wrote songs about traps
The ink is drying
she
will never know
her father
and he will never be burdened
with a life he never agreed to
But fault is an ugly word when talking about children
Two make a life
Not a mother who couldn't abort it.
