Will and his mother have had a tumultuous relationship since… well, birth, pretty much. She was an alcoholic, and he resented her from his very first memory. In this song, Will has finally begun to see how alike he and his mother are, and he has finally started to forgive her for all the ways she failed him in his youth.
Twenty-four Year Wrath
Six young eyes look up in wonder
Watch a mother douse her pain
Family is torn asunder
Bottle bears a life of strain
Every sip; grows more unsightly
Serves him up another round
Bedroom door, revolving nightly
Asks us not to make a sound
A woman sharing my own eyes, unrecognizable to me
Rebelled against her nurturing side; just wasn’t meant to be
A broken heart, it crushed her soul, derailed her from her path
One son would blindly follow her, internalize the wrath
Love destroyed me, heart was hardened
I was sixteen, just a boy
She was faithless, then it started
Life was nothing but a ploy
Taking comfort in relations
Stroke me, use me, calm my mind
Never fearful of damnation–
I’m the boy Mom left behind
A woman sharing my own eyes, unrecognizable to me
Rebelled against her nurturing side; just wasn’t meant to be
A broken heart, it crushed her soul, derailed her from her path
One son would blindly follow her, internalize the wrath
She’s sober now and thinking clear
It’s me who can’t see through the blear
My brothers find the faults in me
I think it’s how I want to be
I realize when I’m all alone
I was always first to cast the stone
It’s her I see in this old mirror
She never left; she was always here.
Twenty-four and wandering, aimless,
Stumbled into love one day
Came to terms that I’m not blameless
Sorrow mounts, to her dismay
Empathy for all her anguish
Rushed me like a flooding creek
After that, she’d never languish
From the barbs I used to speak
A woman sharing my own eyes, unrecognizable to me
Rebelled against her nurturing side; just wasn’t meant to be
A broken heart, it crushed her soul, but couldn’t steal her light
One son would proudly follow her, encouraged by her fight
Love Will ©2016 Lori L. Otto
Lori L. Otto, author 
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