Poem: For My Mother

He came and met you
for the first time
the day after
your mother died

He claimed to be
" a friend of your brother's"
but Uncle Tom says
he never liked him.
That is how he first
sleazed into your life.

A few years later
you were living in
Los Angeles
just as you'd always
dreamed of

He was in Sacramento
where you always hated
and swore never to return

You used to show me e-mails
from him, in LA
they told you
that you were a failure
that you'd never make it
in LA
and you should move back to Sacramento

Can't you see what he was doing?
Why can't you see?

He also wrote about me
frequently
how bad, or evil, or whatever
I was

He's a small time Con
Mom
Not even a good one

But he fooled you
He was too much of a
Coward
to move to LA
to be with you
so he broke you down
emotionally
one email
at a time

It took almost a year
but when you were
just about to crack
he put the cherry
on the cake

You told him no dogs
were allowed
at your LA home

With intentional disregard
on purpose
and with Malice
he brought his dog
and you were kicked out
of your apartment

The first time I met him
was for a Thanksgiving dinner
with Uncle Tom
at a Chinese food restraunt
in Sacramento

I was working at Providian
making lots of money
(more than him)
and wanted to pay for everything
for my mother
for a change
He would not have it

I was 2 months from 21
and he threw a fit
at dinner
about me drinking a beer
he was the only one who cared
I left to smoke
and avoid a scene
he followed me into the
parking lot
pushed me in the chest
and tried to physically fight me
Like an ape.

Somehow you thought
nothing of it
you always forgave him
and scolded me
just like dad.