Danielle N. Calhoun

JOHNATHAN

You keep trying to boss me around
Your Pop Pop thinks counseling
will put us on solid ground

But I really feel that the only one to blame
is the one who put us in this situation
in the first place

Your father was a jerk
for lack of a better term.
I don’t want to use expletives
it just will make things worse

I truly wish
someone could explain
why you insist
on treating me this way

I don’t give in
as much as I did before
even though school
has put you in a different realm

Every time you come home
it’s more of the same

When will you grow up
and realize
parenting isn’t a game;
You can’t force your hand

I’m the parent
not the other way around:
sometimes I wish
there was a real man
in this house