I saw a young girl die the other day
At the hands of her own father, no less.
His large hairy hands wrapped around her fragile neck
Slowly squeezing the life out of her
As he quickly thrust himself into her
Beads of sweat swimming down his face
Dropping on to hers
Mixing with the blood dripping from that little freckled nose
While her hair flew in the air
Stirring the concoction like a scientist mixes vials for the perfect antidote.

And she cried out, “Stop, daddy. Please.”

But that bitch deserved it.
She shouldn’t dress so sexy
Walkin’ the way she does
Saying shit how she does
“Daddy, I love you. I miss you.”
And all I heard was,
“Daddy, I want you.”
She was asking for it, begging for it, pleading.
And when I gave her what she wanted she tried to fight back.
The back of my hand swam across her cheeks like a coy fish

And before she could catch her breath

He turned me around and grabbed me from behind
And that’s when he stole it
Like he stole my mother’s heart
My innocence.
I screamed
I fought
I cried
And when all else failed
I reached for the phone
But he got to it first
And hit me with that, too
So we both hit the floor, the phone and I

The crash muting the sound of the door

As I walked in
Watching that man steal the last breath from my wretched daughter’s lungs
With a kiss
Like he used to do me
Part of me didn’t want to let him do it,
But that’s the only way he’d stay.
“The man makes the family,” mama used to say
And I needed him. I loved him.
If I’d stopped him, my heart would have broken

Like the neck,
Ribs,
Nose of that little girl that now lies in a closed casket
Hiding a young girl’s face,
Like her mother’s veil hides the malice and tears.