Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all related characters, and all derived works are the intellectual property of Nickelodeon, Viacom, Eastman, and Laird. This story is for entertainment purposes and not for monetary gain. In no way should this story be taken to be anything other than a fan-based expansion of and commentary on the source material. n00btmntfan is in no way associated with the makers of TMNT.
I look in the mirror.
A girl—
A woman?—
gazes back at me.
Her eyes:
deep brown,
rimmed with thick lashes,
Dark lashes.
Her eyes gaze at me
Also from the tattered
Remnants of ruined past:
A photograph—shredded,
Worn, and loved—
Half is missing
As if half of her is missing,
As if half of me is missing.
A man should stand
Next to her, looking
Into those eyes
That gaze at me,
Rimmed with dark lashes,
A man who made her smile,
A man who made her laugh,
A man who gave her love;
A man who is missing,
Even now is missing.
Was he a different man
Than the one I see now,
A man grudgeless and loving?
Oh, Father! Do you love me?
Daddy, do you love me?
Tōsan, do you love me?
Every day I test you;
Every day I ask you;
Every day I cry to you:
Father! Do you love me?
I gaze into the mirror.
Your vendetta—
Your hatred?—
Looks back at me.
Its source:
A counterfeit friend
Who extinguished the light
In those eyes,
The eyes that gaze at me
From the tattered
Remnants of ruined past:
A photograph—splintered,
Wrinkled, decayed.
Half is missing,
As if half your love is missing,
As if half your love for me is missing.
The man that should stand
Next to me,
Looking into my eyes,
Rimmed with dark lashes,
A man I could make proud,
A man I could look up to,
A man to give me love;
A man who is missing,
Even now, is missing.
Are you a different man
Than the one I see now,
In whose eyes I see resentment?
Oh, Father! Do you love me?
Daddy, do you love me?
Tōsan, do you love me?
I rebel to test you;
I disobey to ask you;
My attempts to satisfy
Your vendetta is my cry:
Father! Do you love me?