Mourning Skies

Family

I feel as if
All my insecurities
Have seeped out of my mind
And into the open air
Manifested themselves
Into insentient beings
Hidden behind masks
Smiling faces
All with a single word
Etched into their foreheads
"Family"

As a child
They always encouraged me to be myself
A special little flower
And they fed my every sprout
Every time I danced
Or showed interest in their conversations
They always said how mature
I was for my age
But I still see it as a pretty label
For being forced the grow up too fast
In a cult of masked monsters
With the same message
As if repeating on a broken record
"We love you no matter what"
But over time
The repetition of the phrase
Became warped and scratched
Love was no longer a word we could use
As if it was just as toxic as their glares
I see from the corners of my eyes

But who was I
To expect unconditional love
From nothing but a group of entities
So engrossed in their ignorance
That they cannot see
Their own withering away

-

So I'm on vacation with my stepdad's family and all they're talking about is the recent marriage equality law (streamers wooooooo) but they're saying horrible things so I'm ready to jump out a window