First Memory | A poem by Louise Glück, 1990

Long ago, I was wounded. I lived
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was–
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved.

Louise Glück, First Memory, 1990

from Ararat

Also:
Happiness | A poem by Louise Gluck, 1980