next to the water tower
a little house beckons me
and as i move boxes after boxes up the steps.
it's a warm day in August.
the sun's heat seems to claw its way through the clouds
like an offbrand axe murderer
i don't get along with my parents very well.
every time my mother speaks
it feels like tires squealing down a quiet road
and i want to forgive her.
i should forgive her.
but i don't.
i wanted things to be different
than they were with my parents
the three of us screaming, my dog
sitting in the corner and watching
as my mother cried because
she didn't believe the person standing in front of her
was her blood.
i truly thought that somehow
i had swam my way into the eye of the hurricane;
that there was quiet,
for just a moment.
in my naiveté
i went about my life the way i wanted to.
i enrolled for another semester of college.
i went out with my friends, talking
about how excited i was.
a new life was laid out ahead of me like a red carpet
and like a fool, like a celebrity
with the back shorn out of my dress pants
i waddled forward, unassuming.
isn't it funny
when you come home after a night of fun
more fun than you've had for ages
the first time in a decade that you aren't avoiding coming home
and you hear someone you trusted
ranting about you behind your back?
about things you thought they'd understand
my grandfather is just like me
and yet we are nothing alike.
because of this, he resents me
he says
"I guess I was just expecting you to be someone that you aren't."
and the hurricane blows louder
the duct tape that i've placed
at the opening at the bottom of my door
bursts
and water begins to barrel
into my life once more.
is there anything more foolish
than trust
or love?
it can either be your greatest investment
or the worst thing to ever happen to you.
YOU ARE READING
the archives - a poetry portfolio
PoésieA light buzzing distracts you from whatever you're doing. There is an old, weathered monitor on a table next to you. You could have sworn that it had just *appeared* out of thin air. Out of curiosity, you stare at it for a moment. The screen flicke...
