Do you ever
feel the cold,
that not even blankets
your gran knitted…
Family
When you must
be polite,
or mind your manners,
or some such societal…
we don’t celebrate
the blank page,
we abhor
its crisp
clean
emptiness….
do well in school,
get a decent job,
pay your bills,
make friends…
He slides out of the recliner,
shakes his ears as he bee-lines
for the couch where my mother
is about to sit down…
spend so much time
keeping a distance,
using space as a barrier,
making yourself a castle …
They say,
pick yourself up
and carry on.
I look at my baggage…
what my family
taught me about grief
is to cry as much as you need to
and laugh when you can…
here I was, thinking depression
sucked the body heat
out of me…
his sister finishes speaking,
and he pipes up,
and I’m stunned….
