poems about family

Absences

In a small town
Bereft of opportunity,
He wanders slowly
Toward school,
Stopping along the
Way to throw rocks
At various things,
Smack light poles
With his skateboard.
At some point during
The day, the guidance
Counselor will confront
Him about his many
Absences and force
Another lengthy lecture
On him, all about how
He’s throwing his
Future down the drain.
At home, his mother
Screams at her
Latest boyfriend,
The one she chooses
Over him all the time.
He dreams of a day
When he can get away,
Have a room of his own,
Forget everything.

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His Entire Life

He spent his entire life
Trying to avoid that
Feeling, the one he
Remembered from childhood
And never wanted to relive,
Constantly struggling to
Circumvent his inner pain,
Destroying all his
Relationships and making
A lot of people miserable.
He carried it deep inside
Until the very end.

The Trees Listen

Light waning
Over the water,
Small waves quietly
Washing over pebbles,
Screaming at the
Injustice,
The trees listen.

Maintaining

In this family
We keep secrets,
Protect oppressors,
Condone behaviors
That cause
Lasting damage,
Pretend everything
Is perfect,
Scornfully reject
Ideas that might
Make things better,
Never growing,
Just maintaining.

Dinner Table

We all sit at
The dinner table,
Silently eating
What mother has made,
Talking only
When father decides
It’s appropriate,
And then only about
The approved topics.

Hierarchical,
Authoritarian
Narrative.
Bowing to the master,
Waiting for the
Next instructions to
Allay our discomfort.
They always
Know better.

Vigil

He still remembers it
Vividly, painfully.
Overt slights,
Disregard for his opinion,
Domineering imposition,
Unnecessary fighting
In the midst of a
Horrible situation.
Feeble, broken people
Hobbling around anxiously,
Making each others’
Lives miserable as
They stand vigil.

Unsolicited

Every time the phone rang I’d
Get an anxious, uncomfortable,
Crawling feeling because I knew
What was on the other end.

Syrupy sweet platitudes and
Depressingly shallow exchanges
About nothing in particular and of
Excruciatingly little interest to me.

Gritting my teeth, rubbing my temples
To pacify the misery, hoping this
Would be the last time I’d have to
Deal with this unsolicited dross.

Dwell

During all the
Traumatic events
That year,
He tried to assert
Himself, let his
Opinion be known,
Ameliorate the terrible
Pain permeating everything,
Suggest a soft place
Instead of ragged hardness,
But all his efforts
Ended at the same dead end,
An impenetrable wall
Of hurt that no sentient
Being could surmount,
A place where the
Unconscious dwell.

How To

How to describe
How dirty I feel
When I’m forced to
Have any kind of
Contact with you.

How to let you know
That the mere thought
Of you repulses me
And racks me with
Overwhelming sadness.

How to get you
Out of my life,
Away from me,
So I don’t have to
Deal with this.

How to keep wishing
That you would
See what’s going on
Instead of
Stepping on me.