I wear purple to/
I wear purple for/Thinking of my girl/
singing “Since the day I left/
Milwaukee” brings tears.
How can I stay glad/
and positive when my girl/
hurts with such deep pain?
For my daughter I/
wish it was “Yesterday Once/
More”, and tomorrow.
I stuck out my foot and broke her arm.
I laughed ’til she cut her face.
I watched her play ’til a shoulder
blew harshly out of its place.
I held her, gently, down
as needles tapped her spine.
She looked at me, surprised,
and winced but didn’t whine.
I sat there and listened
as she poured out what was inside.
It was my shoulder she reached for
when she broke down and cried.
But none of those childhood pains can even start
To compare to the trust lost when I broke her tender heart.
You, daughter, and I are apart
By physical distance.
By directions of the heart.
By life’s circumstance.
By twists and turns
Caused by poor choices made;
By hard lessons not learned;
By words said and unsaid.
Yet in my heart, mind and soul,
You dwell with me.
Everywhere I go,
You’re with me constantly.
No matter how far apart we may roam
In my heart you’ll always have a home.
Sometimes all you can/No dad should reach the/
point where he must tell his girl:/
“Go. Die. I can’t help.”
She felt as though she/
had no control, so I gave/
it back. It’s now hers.
Or
it back. She must do.
Or
… so I quit
helping her escape.
Written after my daughter claimed she had no control in her life, then called me begging me to come get her from a treatment center she could leave on her own.