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Open Poetry #49
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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2014-10-11 09:03 PM




last meeting of the family
I was present for
was some holiday
Thanksgiving, Christmas
whatever
as I moved among my relatives
(not blood, but still . . .)
it felt like I was a shadow
not really real
I was the full-fledged rebel
the one talked about
a lot
funny how things went
the female relatives
were so curious
at my lifestyle and places I had been
it was as if they wanted to get me in a corner
and pump me for juicy details
and they all . . .
everyone of them
seemed charmed at my outlaw lifestyle
but the men relatives
were very much standoffish
barely a handshake
a verbal greeting
leaving me standing there
wondering what I’d said to send them scampering
I know now what it was
envy
somewhere in their makeup
they wish they’d had some of my experiences
experiences wondered bout
never would ask
no matter how much they loved their wives
their family
they would have loved
to travel the country
on a wing and a prayer
as did I
at least for awhile
I’m sure the men were more vocal
in denouncing me
than were their wives
ahhh . . .
that family get-together
was many years ago
I never went to another one
we never talk anymore

©March 22, 2014 / Jerry Pat Bolton

If they give you ruled paper write sideways.

© Copyright 2014 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
1 posted 2014-10-11 10:34 PM


I went to two family get-togethers in my life.  One for my mother's side of the family, one for my fathers.  I stood alone at each.  "Family" was never much more than a word in my vocabulary as I grew up.  I've striven to change that with my own children and who knows, maybe one day somewhere down the line their children will go to a family get-together somewhere and nostalgically enjoy where they've come from.  One can always hope.

Michael

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
2 posted 2014-10-11 10:48 PM


I learned early on that family reunions was nothing more than b.s. Eh, at least in my family it was, and it seems the same with yours. Thanks for chiming in.

If they give you ruled paper write sideways.

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
3 posted 2014-10-12 04:47 AM


I didn't have much family growing up and many problems in the immediate family. I have worked very hard to change that family dynamic with my own family and actually connected with relatives I never knew as a child. My own family is very close thanks to a lot of patience and mutual support in hard times. I am very grateful for this step forward.
                             Ida

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
4 posted 2014-10-12 06:49 AM


Funny how families can run hot and cold over the years. As my mother's brother's have passed away the reunions have grown smaller. As my own brothers gathered and excluded me that caused a riff that still exists today.

Lori

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
5 posted 2014-10-12 07:45 AM


I see from some of the comments that my problems with my family are not all that rare, Ida. Thank you for your read and input.

If they give you ruled paper write sideways.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
6 posted 2014-10-12 07:48 AM


Yeah, Lori, the families we have were not of our choosing. I honestly don't mind how my relationship with mine has turned out. Thanks for the comment.

If they give you ruled paper write sideways.

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
7 posted 2014-10-12 09:04 AM


Dear Jerry, it is a very special blessing when family members harmonize and I think that more often the reality is like you render it here with your usual poetic skills.

I remember family gatherings when I was a child and in the years of my youth. My aunts and uncles were tremendous criticizers, they all thought I was spoiled by my Mother (she brought me up alone with immense love, as a widow ... and her siblings didn't realize at all what it meant). Living in different countries makes it difficult to cultivate the relationships. I had the joy to meet my brother and family this past Spring here in Rome; that was the first time he came after I married, almost half a century ago!!! (I have visited him at his home in Switzerland though). I have 20 cousins and I am in touch with half a dozen maybe only. There is one cousin who wanted to organize a gathering, but until now it has not been realized, so I fear we are all quickly aging and won't see much of each other anymore and I can't say that I long to see those "strangers" actually.

Well, as you see, your topic made me "chatty"!

Have a beautiful Sunday.
Margherita

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
8 posted 2014-10-12 09:11 AM


You may have been "chatty" as you said, but you were making perfect sense, which you always do when you come here to my part of the world. I'm finding that, for the most part, families are not close as they used to be. Even back then, as you so aptly surmised, they wasn't really that close even then. Gossipers, back-stabbing aunts and uncles, et al. You pretty much said it all when you said, "I can't say that I long to see those "strangers" actually."

Thank you for your input, Margherita.


If they give you ruled paper write sideways.

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
9 posted 2015-08-20 09:36 PM


interesting reading...james
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
10 posted 2015-08-20 10:23 PM


Thanks James . . .

~*~ When they give you ruled paper write sideways. ~*~

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