BUT WHEN SHE WAS BAD,

SHE WAS HORRID.”

I remember when I was only three,
I knew the good and bad in me.
I showed the good and
shined in their favor.
The bad was unacceptable
behavior.
The pull divided my little soul.
The bad appealed, often took
control.
I lived many years in discontent.
Admonished my uncontrollable
bent.
Existed in guilt and punished
the child, which tormented,
fought with the stable and wild.
The separate systems that
battled within,
are accepting each other.
My life’s on the mend.

Janet Brice Parker