The older I get The more I look like him The heavier I get The more I look like him So I run and run and run The glint in my eye Is a piece of him And they told me once We even shared our sexuality The jowls especially Remind me of him Why couldn’t he just be A jolly old memory And not a monster in the mirror Still I’m much shorter than him Infinitely more honest than him More ambitious than him A bigger heart than he could’ve imagined Enough to have forgiven him Years ago For all the abuse and trauma he endured That caused the horrendous crime in him Of hurting the young Of the scarring of a granddaughter That only ever adored him And never understood Why he lied to everyone about what he did And made them hate me And tell me I was making it up Because I was “smart for being so young” But I am infinitely more honest than him Even when that honesty scalds I am grateful at the very least That it is not the mendacity That I inherited from him