daughter

from your mouth sprouts fireweed

your anger ripples my vision

before your words great men part like fiery seas

stake your claim and you will be raised up

 

 

mother

you have withered

your strident voice now stutters nonsensically

that biting bitch that eats holes in your brain

has taken your words

and silenced all but your screams

 

 

i

i scream my truths

i will be silenced no more

i deny your grasping hands

i will never be raped by you again

 

 

grandmother

draped across threadbare

tufts of cotton

vomit stained

you reek of failure and regret and gin

 

 

cousin

brightest, greenest leaf

sun lights you, neon-like

but in the shade you curl

and cover the buds of your private sorrow

 

 

old friend

your biting comments

cut quick to truths i already ken

you teach me myself

and in this your friendship is the most honest i know

 

 

 

aunt

ancient crone

knife-like tongue

shreds my mother’s heart

and i bleed

 

 

new friend

powerful amazon

grab your power!

ride it like a camel cross the desert

let your voice be carried in every dusty grain of sand!

 

 

mother-in-law

beaten-down, sad life, abandoned child of man

you take my hand in your powerful grasp

you whisper, ‘i understand’

and disappear

 

 

women make my family

surround and lift me

carry me, anoint me, revere me

enlighten, lift, and teach me

hold me! know me! grant me life.