21 Years/One Night

21

On a seemingly normal

January night,

Laced with the bitter cold

Of an unforgiving winter,

My family suddenly changed

In ways I never could've foreseen

As my parents screamed at one another,

Hurling insults, curses,

All manner of cruelty at each other,

All I could do was cower in the corner

I was beyond shocked, scared into silence,

My whole body quivering with fear

It was a long, dark night,

One that felt like eternity stretching on

It was this night I discovered,

How detrimental the acohol

My parents consumed was,

To them,

To us

This seemingly powerless substance

Had resulted in a true mess,

A jumble of a family,

An absence of love

It completely changed us

With no one to lean on,

I relied on my own perseverance,

The will to help where I could,

Here and there

Building myself back up,

I learned how to be strong

The addiction wasn't my doing,

Rather the result of petty faults

I encouraged myself

That one day

I would escape

And that is what I continue to do,

To this day