My first memories
Are of screams rather than laughter
Mother fighting to push the door closed
To keep out the drunken disaster
Called my father

A strange man
A stranger to me anyway
Since I remember only meeting him once
And even that was a hell of a day

Three sisters I had
One I loved but barely knew
Then I was separated from the other two
But yeah
I loved them too

It’s good my mother loved me
Before the strange homes and abuse
Before seeing her for the last time
Though I had not a clue
Therefore I failed to say goodbye
Or even I love you

Better not to have had parents
Than one you lost too soon
And one you never loved
Because that one you never knew

Left to learn from trial and error
And face the world alone
Where friends could be enemies
And trust is turned to stone

These are the memories
That shaped the man I am
Not a cruel man in the least
But unused to tender hands

By the time love found me again
I had forgotten how to feel
I closed my ears to her words
Not believing they were real

How far I had fallen
From all I could have been
After being tossed into the darkness
At the meager age of ten

Born with the potential to be great
Only to later learn
The choice would not be mine
But the wheel on which I turned

That old wheel of fortune
From which not many escape
That has guided the lives lived and lost
Now, tomorrow and yesterday

Unfortunate to be poor
Unfortunate to be great
Unfortunate to live in a world
Where too many can’t relate

I was what I became
I am what I’ve become
Made in America
Where many dreams are left undone