By Kaitlyn Martin
There’s bad blood between us, father.
You cast me out because you say I broke your heart.
You say I threw you away when you threw me away.
You told me I did not value your love when I had it, when really,
you did not value mine. You did not even see me.
Here we are, in a war where our friends, neighbors, and we are bathed in that bad blood raining from the sky.
We started this war, and now we have to finish it.
The most dangerous war is the one between you and I.
This is a war of the hearts, the black and blue, the wounded.
Speak to me, blind man.
Tell me I’m still your child. Tell me you have not forgotten me like I feared.
I forgive you.
I forgive you, father. I need you and you need me.
We need each other.
Our petty feud was nurtured, and it fed on our years of silence and grew into this bloody war.
I hereby declare it over.
I hereby waive the white flag above the walls I have built around myself.
I forgive you.
There, the war is over.
Now let’s fight on the same side again.
