remembering the not-so-old days
1.
They fought a lot.
We knew that.
We always thought
fighting & staying together
was better than ]\\\\ Separating.
So many of our friends
endured steps. It didn’t seem
worth it. Now I’m not so sure.
To be honest
I haven’t really thought
much about dad’s “status”.
I’ll survive with him or not.
It’s mum I’ll always miss.
Rueben tried to play
peacemaker tag.
Always putting himself
in the middle of their arguments
in the hope it might end them.
He was too little to realise.
2.
Weird. For me it’s the reverse
Mum took off when I was two
so my memory of her
is somewhere between
next to nothing
& absolute zero.
Dad worked in the garage
Long hours. Long long hours.
Whether because there was
so much work or simply
avoiding me, I’ll never know.
It was my granny who basically
brought me up. Took me to sport,
watched me play, helped with homework,
even with girlfriend troubles eventually.
All that stuff. Taught me to cook too.
She was an excellent chef.
Awww now you’re just teasing me.
But yes, I’m pretty good in a kitchen.
I enjoyed the progression of the vignettes. You told just enough for us readers to gain an understanding of each pair or group of people, and little by little your entire family emerged. The last two lines made me picture you and a loved one in the kitchen with you telling the story while cooking. Maybe you even have a spatula in hand. . . . I’ll see what image surfaces during this next reading.