Hypocritical Manslaughter Poem by Ronald Speight

Do as I say but not as I do
Says the man to his young child
While he raises His hand to his wife
As she calls for help as her calls go unanswered

He says I’m sorry baby you know I love you
She is reluctant but goes back
Because deep down she loves him to

All the arguing and abuse
He witnesses everyday
He takes it all in little by little learning growing
But we now find that the child has
Grown into a man incarcerated

Because he took it a little to far
With his wife is he guilty or
Maybe a victim himself but while he is in jail
She can get some off time to recuperate

I know what you’re thinking
Why doesn’t she leave?
To go back to the way things were
If that’s the case maybe a couple of hits isn’t too bad

She grew up in a hard place to navigate
A hard one to leave where everything is meant
To hold you down
Her mother an addict unable to find work
Did what she could to support her habit
But nothing to nurture her child

Men coming in and out
At all times of the day
She had a question deep down
Inside that came out one night
She asks a man are you my father?

He laughs and says hell no while her mother
Is sitting in the corner shooting up
She tells the girl you got to be better than me
Do as I say and not as I do
But we see the girl has grown into a young woman
She has a job lying on her back to support her habit

Man after man comes by before she can do anything
Her day has already passed fulfilling her need
But leaving her dead and empty
So is she a victim of her own device or a conspiracy

When you look into their eyes
They don’t know what they’ve done
So are they wrong or just victims
Of a hypocritical manslaughter