Inheritance

Nothing awaits me

I’ve vanished my father to a ghost.

Forgotten, he exists only in the shadows and

All I hear are whispers of him

It’s so very confusing not having a father…

That depression can pull

People apart so far that

It leaves a chasm..

Before he left, he gave me

Part of his pit, his vice and wounds

And left with nothing, I took them for my own

My mother,

Removed from herself

Sets her life on autopilot

To stay busy

Busy from what, I’m not so sure

But busy, always busy disguised as

Productive.

It seems like the only thing worth her time are the quiet

Dinners to celebrate.

Celebrate these milestones, that have grown to have

Less and less meaning, becuase

But celebrating looks like Silence.

There’s love, I’m sure, somewhere in the silence,

But it fills the space between us,

So deeply,

That it only feels like we’re drift further apart.

It’s so very confusing only having a mother…

Try as she may, how do you teach

A boy without instructions?

She has giving me love, and dedication,

A sharp tongue I direct at myself

And silence.

She has given me so much silence,

That is all that comes out of me when I speak.

My inheritance is just that.

Silence and Darkness.

I’m trying to let it go,

Trying to learn

so I don’t end up as a shadow,

Or someone who barely exists, showing up

Uninterested, disengaged.

What life is that? It’s not one I want.

Left with only these few heirlooms,

I want only to leave this behind.

I worry… I worry

I’ll leave and they won’t care

I’ll leave and they’ll erode into nothing

I’ll leave and I’ll never come back.

Most of all…

I’m worried about

What I’ll leave behind.

What an inheritance.