Butchered

She hated the feel from bits of bloody flesh
left on the floor from her dad’s butcher shop
always made her nearly vomit
when he made her crawl on hands and knees
though that mass of mutilated dripping beef.

Love was the insanity of tolerating
his moods of carving and slicing
making sure she never missed any gruesome detail
no matter how it much it turned her stomach.

What was worse came with the screams
for he always slaughtered his victims
how they would cry and shout in deafening tones
from the basement where they had been lead.

If only he didn’t make her watch
as he would decapitated and then begin
removing their organs,
when some broiled meat was placed before her
that he had killed only recently,
her mind was trapped she that defenseless creature’s face
those sad eyes and made it hard for her
to truly consume the serving without being upset.

Still, he insisted she eat every bite
waste was a sin and no excuse,
so she slowly ate it even
though at times he refuse to let her wash off her body
after having helped in his shop.

Some nights she was terrified by nightmares
each somehow related to her father’s job,
always left her with horrible disfigured image,
which linger in her head all day.
The smell only made things worse
on hot days when it grew to be lot rotting meat,
it was enough to keep her from ever wanting
another mouthful of that type of meal.

Perhaps she escape soon enough
then forget this horror,
there had to be a place in the world
with a chance to live
free from a parent
who is a devout cannibal.