By five years old your daughter
Had the job to teach
The tears not to come
And at nine she began to reach
For the world she thought would preach
All the love and kindness a little child would seek
By ten her faith in humanity
Had gone
She'd crave for the affection
That you granted to your son
And everyone she thought she knew
Were powerless to stop what was going on
Even if they knew it was wrong
She was six when on the deck
You locked her and her brother
How you left her young mind a wreck
And you would never bother to check
If it was cold outside
The cozy, mouse-trapped home
In which you would reside
You never truly cared
How your actions made her weep
How your blatant favor of her brother
Because she was not a sheep
Made her stifle her sobs
And you will never understand
What it is to cry yourself to sleep
You damaged her hope
To her, you were slippery as soap
And as dependable as a broken rope
You left her there alone
She is a shell of the girl she used to be
Too afraid to tell you she isn't really she
And you blame her only joy for her anxiety
Or the kids at school, but you are her biggest bully
A father is a protector
A mentor
A friend
You are not my family
Something that never started cannot end
And I hope you don't expect my trust back again
Your daughter is a child
Still growing up far too fast
So that perhaps
In this torment she can last
Until at least the worst of the storm has passed
But nobody can ever mend
How much you ruined in her past
---
To my father, although he may never read it or care that it exists. This is essentially a poetic rant, I might make more.