Lost Child
By Dennis Moore

My stepfather and I
And I never talked unless
We were arguing

Some days he filled
The room
With his anger
Talking down
To me from his
Great heights
Using big words
That came down
Like boulders
Smashing my head

Other days
He ignored me
Hiding behind
A newspaper and
The world's troubles
Between him and me
Stories of
Lost children
That no one
Cared about

One day
As we argued
He called me
A guest
In my own home
So I
Punched a hole
Through the wall
And chipped
His heart of stone

He leapt out of
His throne
Defending his
Castle and
Punched me
In the mouth

Days later
I ran away
Becoming
One of those
Lost children
In the newspaper

Maybe someday
He will
Read about
Me

Dennis is one of the Poets Unleashed, and they have graciously granted us permission to share this excerpt from their book of the same title. For more information about Poets Unleashed, please see http://members.tripod.com/poetsunleashed/index.htm