Tag: family

Prompt Day 10

Six of us to start, smiling into the lens

One, two, three,

Cheese!

I didn’t even like cheese.

The eldest at my left

I looked up to him,

And he beat down on others

Because of it.

The other brother on the right

More tender and less angry,

Gave me all my favourite sounds,

Thanks for that.

Then the baby, that wild blonde

That I call sister,

Now she gives her love away

Like its a fake smile

For those old family portraits.

Then the parents, mostly sad

Mostly discontented, just surviving.

Now there’s more, inlaws step what have yous.

Big family is nice though traditions stay the same,

We only ever had two.

1: Ice cream cake.

2: Conflict avoidance.

Beyond happy I’ve my own branch now

To have grafted true beauty

Into this still green sapling

And to have such wonderful fruits

From the labours of our love.

– Vagabond Prophet

Timezones

Sleeping in same bed

Yet time zones apart from one another,

Him straining for a future hoping it’s different

Her yearning for a past that never changes.

Different beds now,

Followed their watches

Did either get what they wanted?

Will I always be haunted,

Wondering if it could have been different?

What if they’d got help

What if we switched leftover night

To Thursdays?

There was never anything left of them by Friday.

My rumination waxing

Never gets any answers,

Just resolutions.

It’ll be different for me.

– Vagabond Prophet

Good Day

I woke up next to her again

To that blooming goddess

Of warmth and beauty.

I woke up to the joyful squeals

Of two healthy children

Just happy for another day.

My hearing degrades

With each new frequency

My daughters voice discovers,

Fearlessly trailblazing

The uncharted waters of sound.

My mind is blown by the fact

That my son of five

Is imagining stories far beyond me,

A natural storyteller.

I have everything I need.

Some days I’m plagued with worry

Doubt and cynicism.

But today,

Today is good.

– Vagabond Prophet

Ruby Red

Will kill you dead.

Brilliant

Set in gold.

A family ring of old.

Reminds me of my blood

Where I come from,

The beat of my drum.

Now I’m the leader

With the ruby red ring,

Don’t try anything.

I protect my own

Everyone I love,

Silent as a dove.

I’ll come down from above

From the tree tops

Quiet as dew drops.

You won’t see me coming

But I’ll smell your fear

When I get near.

Don’t test me

I won’t ask twice

If you promise to play nice.

My family

Is my pride

And I won’t have them hide.

Ruby Red

Will kill you dead.

– Vagabond Prophet

88

I sailed across the sea

Just daughters wife and me,

Took to the fields.

Fled a career

Building boxes for the dead,

It was killing me.

The culture around

As barren as the land

So I collected eighty eight keys.

The girls needed melodies,

And harmonies to dance to,

Maybe I did too.

Improving life

By risking it,

Maybe that boldness

Runs in the blood.

We all got thin that winter

But our minds ran thick

With music enriching.

I’d do it all again,

Trade my bacon for a duet,

And my ham for a ballad.

When coins slipped away

I brought the sow to town,

And traded her for music.

Worth it,

Every note.

– Vagabond Prophet

– In my dining room sitting to my left right now, is a piano that my great grandfather bought for his daughters after moving to Canada. He wanted music to be a part of their lives. He was making payments on it until he couldn’t, he decided trading their pig in to settle the debt was worth it. I don’t even know what they ate that winter.