In the Name of the Father
© David Campbell
Winner, 2015 ‘The Copper Croc’ Poetry Awards, Theodore Queensland.
I am weeping, Father, weeping,
in the stillness of the night,
while the innocent are sleeping,
for they do not see my plight.
I am grieving, Father, grieving,
for the price I’ve had to pay,
for the child you were deceiving
when you stole my life away.
I am pleading, Father, pleading,
for a sign you comprehend
that the justice I am needing
brings the chance my pain might end.
I want healing, Father, healing,
and repentance of your crime,
for the horror you’re concealing
does not lessen over time.
Do you question, Father, question,
all the evil done to me?
Do you challenge the suggestion
that such sin should never be?
There is kindness, Father, kindness,
in our hearts, that’s what you said,
but in you I sense a blindness
to the cancer you have spread.
Are you hiding, Father, hiding,
from the cold, hard light of truth,
from the courts that are deciding
your corruption of my youth?
I felt wonder, Father, wonder,
at your preaching of the word,
but you tore my world asunder,
and my cries could not be heard.
When you’re praying, Father, praying,
for a child’s immortal soul,
do you hear what you are saying?
Do you understand the toll?
I feel sorrow, Father, sorrow,
for I can’t escape the blame
that will haunt each long tomorrow…
I am overcome with shame.
There is sadness, Father, sadness,
more than you could ever know,
on the path that leads to madness,
where the deep, dark waters flow.
I am drinking, Father, drinking,
for the liquor clouds my brain,
leaving moments when I’m thinking
that I might be whole again.
But I’m broken, Father, broken
by the harm that you have done,
by the blasphemy you’ve spoken,
and the tangled web you’ve spun.
I am dying, Father, dying,
you have killed my will to live.
I am weary of your lying,
and have nothing left to give.
I am weeping, Father, weeping,
in the stillness of the night,
but I’ll soon be in God’s keeping
as I walk towards the light.
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