The Cookseys

This is a poem I wrote when I was a freshman at L.C., I think.. For those that don't know, my dad is legally blind and this a reflection of growing up and the struggles and bittersweet moments I went through with him as a child, teenager, and adult. Now, he is one of my greatest friends and a huge inspiration to me because of his disability and his persistence to be perceived as normal. Anyway, hope you like it.

Crimson and jade, the sky is a shade of cerulean blue;
Chocolate is sienna. “Those pants are an intense alabaster.”

Flowers, picked to die, hung with the brilliant orange sun catcher, waiting to dry.
“Daddy, they’re the shade of a slippery salmon. Aren’t they beautiful?”

“If they were alive.”

The golden beams of sunlight shining in your distinctly perfect eyes,
Never giving heed to the way things have always been
“Catch me daddy, you can’t find me”
I can hide from you anywhere.

You gaze into my school photos,
You call me gorgeous.
Hints of smile grace my pink cheeks.

“Daddy, Daddy! Look at me!”
Your ravishing little child, eager for approval,
Innocent, staring, still, into your perfect eyes.

Dirty lies,
A flip of the bird
Hushed words spoken in secretive anger
I can hide anything from you, and you’ll never see through me.

Hand on my shoulder, “Up three steps”
Classified as your seeing-eye bitch.
“Damnit it Dad… your pants and socks don’t match – those are black”

You take me by the hand, “Sweetheart, you look beautiful.”
As if you really know.

Removal, isolation,
The hidden bitterness before brown chocolate becomes sweet,
Blue with sadness,
Red with anger towards existence
Why am I your child?

And then,
Sweet confessions, my now humble heart breaks;
Tears corrode my gentle spirit like rust on wet cookie sheets,
Stained with childhood’s innocence.
Cookies, once baked, sprinkled with sweet crimson, jade, and cerulean blue candy confections.Your seemingly perfect eyes never saw them,

They never will.