A Prisoner In the Clouds

I hated all the dads
in our apartment complex.

They were all
worthless.

Very few of them
had jobs
and some
didn't exist at all.

If they were around,
they usually beat their wives,
cheated,
and took out their life's failures
on their kids.

I was one of those kids.

I had to witness
the ugliness
of their lives
and the ever growing clouds
they cast upon
their families.

I wasn't floating,
I was there,
trapped,
a prisoner in the clouds.

This is how
I learned to eat,
to fight,
to kill,
to survive.

This is how
I learned to never love
a woman,
to never trust
a man.

This is who
I am.

I accept my fate.

But I have time
to change.

Will I get out?

Will I remain
the same,
if I do?

Or will I
give in?

The cycle can only
continue
with me,
a prisoner in the clouds.