The Things that Fueled the Flames: Gaslit
Kura Farr 

Waiting on the steps
The hours tick by
I watch the sun sink down
You said you’d be here
I guess you didn’t want to be
A dad
My dad
I call your phone
You screen your calls
I show up at your house
You send me away
I cried myself to sleep
You didn’t know
Why wasn’t I enough?
Why didn’t you want me?
The fighting is so loud
Screaming and slamming
My stepdad is screaming
My mom is slamming
I try to distract
My sister
Myself
From the fighting
The crying
Within minutes
He comes into my room
Now he’s screaming at me
And taking her away
“What happens in this house
stays in this house”
“Don’t lie”
“Don’t talk back”
“You’re such a bitch”
I’m branded a liar
for things I didn’t say
I’m scolded about talking back
for speaking out
I’m a bitch
for opposing their opinions
They “walk on eggshells”
To “not upset me”
When really
They just want someone else
To blame