INCHES

The word family meanders course with every turn

me and my sister listened in daze anecdotes

of the rustic fun dad had with his siblings

and mum's warmly braided growing years with hers.

 

My daughter's ears are now filled with

immature catfights of my childhood,

the three year vacuum in my heart 

when my sister wed.

A new family of in laws, brother in laws

became a part of me as I and  my soulmate

later embarked a joint innings.

There were crevices and hills 

yet each pit and each summit 

was crossed with the 

cloak of family gear.

If ever I find myself stripped of the warmth 

of enriched family lifestyles 

I would be left with no armour to face  life.

Any inch of emotional or mental bruise 

of my five decades was stitched with family support.

Blessed am I to pass on these close knit traditions

to my daughter of  sixty three inches.