consider this:
marrying for love.
consider this:
a happy family.
consider this:
dinner at the table
making simple conversation
and enjoying each other's company.
consider this,
muse over them
like pictures in a museum.
"i wonder what it was like to live like that
hm, oh well, i'll never know..."
look at your mother and father
at how they can't talk without getting angry
how they stay together to "help the family"
like it helps to watch your parents shout
your father punch walls
your mother scream and sob
he calls his deadly anger his masculinity
and she calls this heartache her job.
quiet, child, fold your hands and pray
thank God for the food before us
and for having a good day.
smile at your grandmother,
don't show the truth to her
when your parents start looking for a bone to pick
stand up quickly and try to change the topic
a gentle touch on your father's shoulder
a quiet "not now" in your mother's ear
give a pretty laugh and roll your eyes
like it's a joke and not something that's shaped
how you look at life...
and now your grandmother is leaving
and now the walls come down.
consider this:
a world without need of walls.
let's not play in fantasies
you're not a kid anymore but you have a brother
and he needs you more than you need relief.
no.
more than you need anything.
consider this:
the world does not need saving—
you do.
YOU ARE READING
bittersweet recollections of your adolescence // 2019 poetry collection
Poetry❝ consider this: the world does not need saving- you do. ❞
