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Family (Remove filter)

Low Winter Son

I kick away the leaves
uncover the carved stones
And reading your names again
I let those feelings flood in

The two of you rest together
laid deep beneath the earth
There’s a tree that grows above you
and here’s me, treading my own winter

Life was in wealth, awhile
but I’ve been chasing that warmth 
for three decades now
I’m tired and my body aches

There will be fireworks tonight
...

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Ageingdeathwinterparentschildfamilysadness

Phantom Hands

Grief casts complex shadows
over the wilting body
You feel the fingers grasping
as sirens rise again
This fatalistic ritual
an energy made negative
and stomach knotted up
by such unhelpful thoughts

Pain rips at your sails
thunderous and wild
is it the body breaking down
a message poorly translated
The shrieking of absence
cuts deep into the gut
those hands twist and grip
the cycle...

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health anxietyanxietyhealthfamilypain

Young Family In The Sunshine

Over by the river, a young family
painted by the sunshine
So comfortable in their skin
so happy
Little baby, beautiful mother
loving father
smiling

Pulling silly faces
the three of them 
laughing
He looks strong and clear minded
blessed 
by the truth of honest purpose

Life seems simple, warm
they wear their love 
like a tattoo
Working together
to overcome the daily challenges

...

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familyPurpose

If We Love It...

What if those cells collide
what if the world beats to a different rhythm
What if our path is forked
What direction will we take
What if we have no choice
for the first time in our lives

What if things go smoothly
What if then we're three
What if it gets hard at times
What if we do our best
What if something 
we never thought was in us
well, what if it suits us

What if there's a n...

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parenthoodfamilychildren

House On The Edge of Town

More and more
my thoughts turn to you
so aware of time
I’m the age now
that you were
when the pair of you parted
you got that rented house
on the edge of town

We’d stay at weekends
watching winter’s tide sweep in
standing in the falling snow
the garden and the fields disappearing
said ‘throw another log on the fire’
said ‘dad, your house is cold’

At fifteen, I was nothing
lost i...

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breaking up the familyfamilyfamily poemfatherselfishsontalkteenage

Disorder of My Family

My aimless wander finds me wanting...
My family haunts me like a ghost
around this table; spirits chat and eat
It's been much too long
since I heard those voices for real
saw the smile in my father's warm eyes
somersaulted in my mother's complete understanding
or laughed and gasped at the speed
of my sisters' lightning wit

There is a peace there
in the disorder of my fami...

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Family

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