The Words They Followed Him In Poem by Kat Smith

'No dad i would not like to go to dinner with you'
he was gonna say it
his hatred prickled off my skin
'miserable bitch'
he said it
i couldn't breath
all the air was poison
he had been there
all of him
his toxicity
all of it
his words had followed him in
i looked over
to mom
no
mother
her eyes
the disappointment
at me
why?
did i not fight the tears hard enough?
did i not build the walls well enough?
did i not put the mask on tight enough?
was the smile i wore not stretch tightly enough across my face?
i still could not breath
my lungs screamed for air
no
he had been here
and his words follow him in