A TEAR, A FAMILY


A little love crept in
When a baby girl was born
A sister blessed me
Even too young to understand
And too the animosity
The hatred
Given over to me
From one who bore us both

I knew a man once
When I was a boy
Who picked me up and threw me
Like a dead stick might be tossed
Yes, a boy of twelve or so
But at least he showed me emotion

I know it was in him, emotion
Because I know it is in me
Yet why as illness crept
Over his mind
Of an anger in his face and manner
For what his son might need or want

Still once more, saved for last
A rushed trip some five thousand miles
To visit him once more
For something not there for me
The joke I am sure he enjoyed
The hurt enjoined for a last gasp
The last upon this earth
And he was gone, the tear remained.

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