Fireworks lit up the sky
On that strange Fourth of July
Then they all learned the story
Of why my Daddy died

Though no one could have guessed it
He beat my Mummy bad
He wasn’t meant to hurt her
That isn’t being a ‘Dad’

She suffered years in silence
He always seemed enraged
It seemed his temper first showed up
The night they got engaged

Her eyes would swell from beatings
So bad she couldn’t see
But she never tried to stop him
‘Til he turned his fists on me

I don’t remember what I did
Just that it made him mad
I saw him lift his hands to me
The man I called my Dad

I ducked under the table
He reached in and pulled me out
But just before he lashed at me
My mother gave a shout

She stood there with the shotgun
Pointed at his head
“Get your hands off her!” was all she said
Before she shot him dead

I’m not saying that’s the answer
For violent abuse
Some people say, to take a life
There’s isn’t an excuse

I only know she saved me
As fireworks streaked the sky
On Independence Day last year
The night my Daddy died.

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