Not a Family At All

Twas the night before Christmas
When all through the house
Everyone was getting ready
With pants and a blouse

The engines were idling
All ready to go
On the way to a party
Fun would not show

It was just a little girl
And her two younger brothers
All piled in the car
With their dad and their mother

They arrived at the party
Wanting to have fun
The mother and father
The girl and two sons

The party began
But so did the fight
The sons and the girl
Hid away with fright

The dad and the mom
Fought without care
But things got worse
As he ripped out her hair

The punching and yelling
Blood from her head
The children watched on
And heard what was said

He clawed at her face
Bruises form
He beat her alive
Clothes were torn

They thought it had stopped
The dad turned around
The girl helped her mom
As she lay on the ground

They got in the car
Without the dad
But he chased them down
He was really mad

He punched and screamed
Blood from the mother
Got on the girl
And her two younger brothers

They were at a party
With people all around
But they just watched
The mom on the ground

They finally left
The fighting done
The boy asked his sister
"Will Santa still come?"

Santa did come
After all the bloodshed
Without the father there
Kids tucked into bed

The children had witnessed
What goes on everyday
To hundreds of people
In hundreds of ways

Those children had witnessed
Their strong mother fall
On Christmas Eve night
They weren't a family at all

(This is a true story. I was about 8 and my brothers were 5 and 4. They don't remember what happened. Only I do.)