The Photo Album

Her mother talks in circles
And never sleeps in bed
She thinks without emotions
It's a failing of her head
She won't undress in public
Trying hard to forget
What she saw,
What she said
What she knows.

Her father is a drinker
Though he hides it from himself
He throws away happiness
Till he finds it on the shelf
He will terrify the neighbours
Wild man, wild plans
Angry eyes
Angry hands
What the hell.

She tiptoes through the hallway
On her way to brush her teeth
She's lost inside the mirror
Trying to find the sin beneath
She jumps at quiet noises
She will run far away
To escape
To remain
Who she is.

She's peering through her doorway
Silhouette, ragged breath
Staggering, drunk as death

Will he take it out on her?

She's tearing up her album
Photos rent on the floor
Father he, is no more
But a man by the door
He will try to forget
What she did,
What he said
As she lay on the bed
And cut him out of her

Her father's still a boozer
Though it brings him no release
He cries out like a child
And kicks in their old TV
He keeps his smile in public
He will try to forget
What she did
What she said
And the guilt
In his head
But it follows him in sleep.