No "I Love You" Is Due

People always tell you
"love your parents no matter what
because if not for them, there would be no you".

But what if they don't care
and left you alone?
No "I love you" can clear the air
when you cannot condone what they did.

No "I love you" is due
if your parents leave you
raising your own sister.
No thanks should be rewarded-
no when you're no longer a child, but a sitter.

How can I grant them the love and respect
parents are meant to have,
when they split
leaving me with broken memories
of childhood calling quits.
And it may sound like a breeze-
Hey no parents to boss me around,
but I was only six-
six years old
when I found I had to grow up.

Because what's worse than
not being able to help a poor child-
even at six I couldn't dump
the responsibilities
of my little sister on flacky adults.

Maybe I wouldn't be alive
if not for them,
but on the other hand,
maybe I wouldn't be alone
and maybe if not for them
I would've had a childhood.

So tell me, do I give them the
"I love you"s they do not deserve
simply because they are the ones who birthed me?
Do I give them the pleasure
of allowing them to call themselves parents?

I don't think so.
The "I love you"s are conditional
when there's a reason
more than they just get on your nerves.

No "I love you" is due
no-not when they don't deserve
the respect of me.