DEAR GENIE
An Unusual Theory of Relativity Which May Break or Mend Your Heart
GiaB ’Dear Genie’ prompt #1: family
When I encountered this prompt from Melissa Speed, my first action was to leave well alone.
But reading the response from Dr Jackie Greenwood last night made me realize that others have dysfunctional families too. She gave me permission to be open and honest.
Unable to sleep, I sat down at my desk to write this poem in the early hours.
Despite maybe missing the deadline, I wanted to publish because feelings expressed reduce the stress.
Father, mother, brother gone No chance for another song and Dance, where we pretend all is well In the end our issues Fester in silence.
In our mutual dis-ease We occupy our jaded hells Cut off by palisades too thick to penetrate We occupy our cells Of misunderstanding.
Beyond the prisons we built Love’s river flows sluggish Choked with silt of bitter words And guilt.
All this talk of family reveals the Wretched bulbs I thought dug up. Excavated, extirpated, Excommunicated Discarded on the I-won’t-keep-it heap Of pain and disdain.
What I thought dissolved, resolved, Evolved, a grown woman standing her ground No longer bound by bandages of shame And blame Wounds fester again Remain to bleed and stain this canvas Painted to contain only Joy and happiness.
My nuclear family is dead. I miss them — and the words unsaid.
Backstory
My poem specifies nuclear family — father, mother, and brother only.
But I have a loving family of one — a wonderful half-sister who lives in Orlando, Florida. She is 14 years my junior. We share the same Dad. I didn’t have a close relationship with my stepmother, and after our Dad died in 1986, we lost contact.
Thirty years later she found me on Facebook — thank you, Mark Zuckerberg! We have been close ever since, and our love for each other is unbounded. Sadly, she had to cancel her plan to visit last Christmas after attaining her US citizenship because of the travel restrictions.
My broader definition of family includes not only blood relatives but friends who stand by you, no matter what. And this wonderful community of readers and writers.
Thank you for being here.
My gratitude to Melissa Speed for this prompt:
Here is the story from Dr. Jackie Greenwood which inspired me to write: