I SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW


Nobody will ever know
Because no one ever saw
A boy molded to be a man
But lacking in family understanding
He tried it once, too young
He tried it again
But failed
Five children born for love
But love unknown to either
Father or child
Not for lack of trying to find the nurturer
But lost as the nurturer should have been
Schooled in everything but
And yet
I knew it from the parents of my parent
But from one side isn't enough
As you may find my own
Willing to relate, as they now hate
A childhood they see as devoid
Of love
There but unrecognized by either
Father or child
Could I do it better, you bet
If, if, if, if, if
I could have found it for myself
But how can a person find
What he doesn't know exists
Or seeing, does not recognize his lack
By way of what he knew
From a child, his child-hood.

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