Family Poems

we are family,
although we do not resemble
although i am black and you are white
although you are rich and i am poorwe are family,
even though i am democrat, and you are republican
even though your ancestors are from Iraq, and mine are from Africa
even though you teach the class i’m enrolled in

we are family,
although i’m a poet and you are a singer
although you are old and i am young
although i’m a gentleman and you a lady

we are family,
even though you praise Allah and I praise Jesus Christ
even though i love football and you play soccer
even though you are a Sagittarius and i’m a Cancer

we are family,
although i prefer rhythm and blues and you love blue grass
even though you have a car and i have a bus…to ride
although i have love and you are alone
even though you dress one way, and i dress the other
although my family loves me and yours does not know of you

we are family,
you and i are family,
me and you are family,
no matter what the difference is
family we are, forever
because we are here, and here is earth
and earth is our home
so here, we will live,
we are family.

It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.There is a blessing in the air,
Which seems a sense of joy to yield
To the bare trees, and mountains bare,
And grass in the green field.

My sister! (’tis a wish of mine)
Now that our morning meal is done,
Make haste, your morning task resign;
Come forth and feel the sun.

Edward will come with you;–and, pray,
Put on with speed your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day
We’ll give to idleness.

No joyless forms shall regulate
Our living calendar:
We from to-day, my Friend, will date
The opening of the year.

Love, now a universal birth,
From heart to heart is stealing,
From earth to man, from man to earth:
–It is the hour of feeling.

One moment now may give us more
Than years of toiling reason:
Our minds shall drink at every pore
The spirit of the season.

Some silent laws our hearts will make,
Which they shall long obey:
We for the year to come may take
Our temper from to-day.

And from the blessed power that rolls
About, below, above,
We’ll frame the measure of our souls:
They shall be tuned to love.

Then come, my Sister! come, I pray,
With speed put on your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day
We’ll give to idleness.

Sitting in front of the fire, Auntie Flo’s reciting a story,
it’s one about her first Christmas as a newly wed,
the same one she broadcasts every year,
but no one is listening.Uncle Fred, ‘out to the world’ snores rhythmically
on the sofa.

Mother exhausted, having cooked the lunch,
without help, as usual,
stifles a yawn.

Dad, brow furrowed, is trying to piece together
Eddy’s lego set,
whilst Eddy glowers,
after all, it was ‘his’ present.

Joe, playing with a set of ‘disco lights’
is sending flashes of colour across the room,
straight into Grandpa’s eyes,
making him feel even more bilious
after having consumed too many chocolates.

Grandma’s knitting.
Grandma always knits on Christmas Day,
and every other day, come to that,
probably yet another scarf for what she believes is
still the war effort.

The cat, curled up on her lap, purrs contently,
oblivious of the knitting needles, waving precariously
in front of his sleepy eyes.

Susan is gazing at the TV screen, .
glued, for the umpteenth time to, ‘The Sound of Music’ movie,
singing every song, word for word,
at the top of her voice.

‘Turkey was nice’, said Auntie,
‘I was given too much’, moaned Grandpa, belching loudly.
‘Your problem is, you never can refuse a second helping’, said Grandma, ‘so it’s your own fault’.

Mother grins and asks,
‘Would anybody like another mince pie? ‘

My banks are all furnished with rags,
So thick, even Freddy can’t thin ’em;
I’ve torn up my old money-bags,
Having little or nought to put in ’em.
My tradesman are smashing by dozens,
But this is all nothing, they say;
For bankrupts, since Adam, are cousins,
So, it’s all in the family way.My Debt not a penny takes from me,
As sages the matter explain; —
Bob owes it to Tom and then Tommy
Just owes it to Bob back again.
Since all have thus taken to owing,
There’s nobody left that can pay;
And this is the way to keep going, —
All quite in the family way.

My senators vote away millions,
To put in Prosperity’s budget;
And though it were billions or trillions,
The generous rogues wouldn’t grudge it.
‘Tis all but a family hop,
‘Twas Pitt began dancing the hay;
Hands round! — why the deuce should we stop?
‘Tis all in the family way.

My labourers used to eat mutton,
As any great man of the State does;
And now the poor devils are put on
Small rations of tea and potatoes.
But cheer up John, Sawney and Paddy,
The King is your father, they say;
So ev’n if you starve for your Daddy,
‘Tis all in the family way.

My rich manufacturers tumble,
My poor ones have nothing to chew;
And, even if themselves do not grumble,
Their stomachs undoubtedly do.
But coolly to fast en famille,
Is as good for the soul as to pray;
And famine itself is genteel,
When one starves in a family way.

I have found out a secret for Freddy,
A secret for next Budget day;
Though, perhaps he may know it already,
As he, too, ‘s a sage in his way.
When next for the Treasury scene he
Announces “the Devil to pay”,
Let him write on the bills, “Nota bene,
‘Tis all in the family way.”

We’ve got a family album
Like a family tree
A thrill to turn the pages
The pictures we can seeStarting off with grands and greats
Then slowly down the line
Like a book of history
A journey through the time

Fashions start to alter
Mustaches come and go
Ladies skirts skip up and down
A proper fashion show

Top hats change to boaters
To caps then none at all
Ladies bonnets disappear
And so does grannies shawl

Picture’s change to colour
Black and white has gone
A different place, a different time
So much to look upon

But what is so amazing
Is the likeness we can see
Showing up the genes
Right through our family tree

Once more we talk about it.
How sad it’s all become.
No matter how we look at it
this family is not one.They say it shouldn’t matter.
Who needs them after all?
But, please explain the pain I feel
even though I’ve got it all.

I see my pain and emptiness
like a hollowed out old tree…
It may seem to be standing tall
but, it’s empty just like me.

There’s such a contradiction
to my entire life.
I’m happy and fulfilled
being a mother and a wife.

What about ‘a sister’
and ‘a daughter’…how about that?
These are roles I was born to play.
Why can’t I? Tell me that.

A family divided
that’s what we’ve grown to be.
I’ve got mine and you’ve got yours
but we have no family tree.

why can’t family be family again
we used to always be friends
we used to huddle together
whenever we got scared
we felt the warmth in one anothers arms
because we knew the love was therewe used to build forts out of whatever we had in our rooms
and wage sars
throwing pillows, books, and brooms

we used to have mini mosh pits
with just the four of us
we headbanged and pushed
we screamed and pretended to cuss

we used to protect eachother
we used to defend one another
we used to stand together like brothers and sister
when mom punished us we would all resist her

we used to be a family
a family that would always care
we used to be a family with more happiness than despair
we used to be a family that never hogged food or air
we used to be a family that told eachother we were there

we used to be a family
a family that sat down toghether and ate
we used to be a family full of our own ideas that we create
we used to be a family that got along without debate
we used to be a family with more love than hate

so why can’t family be family again
and remember why those times were so good
why can’t family be family again
and treat eachother the way we should

why can’t family be family again
and throw the hate away
why can’t family be family again
and invite the love to stay

He is a hero
not by sibling ordinal age,
nor by fate.
He did not choose
whatever he became.
You see . . . his father drank himself
out of fortune, family, and prestige,
right into the nothingness
of the streets.
Cold and motionless,
without anyone
to claim what remained,
a city dump truck
took him to the grave.
Not just any power greater than he
but The Lord alone,
led the hero to success
and . . . away from alcohol.

Time passes so quickly there’s no time to waste
Spend time with your family, don’t hesitate
For you never know if tomorrow will come
Show your love to all, and not just to some
You never know the impact that you will make
Make sure your actions are real and not fake
If tomorrow comes and your loved ones are gone
Your life is in despair and you’re left all alone
Yesterday is gone and you can’t get it back
Your heart is left cold, and your feelings now you lack
It’s regrets you’ll feel with a broken heart
You say ‘God if I could have just one more start’
But time that is lost can never again be found
There’s only quietness, no more laughter or sound
So use wisely the time in which you’ve been given
Don’t be wasteful and make sure that you are living
Your family is a precious gift from the Lord
Always show them love and don’t strike them with a sword
No human is perfect for we all make mistakes
We must learn forgiveness before it’s to late
If love we freely give then love we’ll freely get
And when it’s heaven time, we’ll be ready you can bet

A perfect family is what we all wish for.
We see people that have families that are much different than ours.
As we experience their unique culture, we wish we had a family like them.
But really, having a perfect family isn’t possible.
We all will have problems and accomplishments that make us unique from every other family in the whole wide world.
So, think hard about how different your family is.
Appreciate you have a family and is never alone because they help us through tough times.
It is never foolish to wish for a perfect family but is foolish to abandon your special family.

t’s family reunion time again
Why, I have one in a few days
It’s fun to see everyone together
As adults visit and the children playMight not know some of them too well
But that’s okay for real soon
Kinfolk seem to have a way
Of feeling comfortable by afternoon

Food planning and bar-b-q
Is always a real big thing
Should I bring potato salad
Oh, what in the world should I bring?

Is that our dear cousin over there?
He looks like Grandpa Joe
And that huge blonde haired family
Are they people we ought to know?

So sometimes you wear name tags
And other times you just ask who
The person is you’re talking to
‘Cause he’s probably related to you!

They keep it so well hidden
This trait they won’t admit
In this family it’s forbidden
To ever mention itAre they fearful of the flow
This trait of theirs brings on?
Afraid if people know
They’d be oh so woebegone?

Their secret hides a social ill
It’s an unacceptable addiction
This trait results in over-kill
It’s an anti-social affliction

Convinced they’ve gone astray
They crawl into cocoons
It appears it’s not okay
Their feasting on dried prunes

To hell with high society
This family won’t succumb
To hell with snob propriety
They won’t switch from prunes to plums

There must be things much worse
Though they can’t imagine what
Is it really such a curse
This secret that they’ve got?

As when the Paschal week is o’er,
Sleeps in the silent aisles no more
The breath of sacred song,
But by the rising Saviour’s light
Awakened soars in airy flight,
Or deepening rolls along;The while round altar, niche, and shrine,
The funeral evergreens entwine,
And a dark brilliance cast,
The brighter for their hues of gloom,
Tokens of Him, who through the tomb
Into high glory passed:

Such were the lights and such the strains.
When proudly streamed o’er ocean plains
Our own returning Cross;
For with that triumph seemed to float
Far on the breeze one dirge-like note
Of orphanhood and loss.

Father and King, oh where art thou?
A greener wreath adorns thy brow,
And clearer rays surround;
O, for one hour of prayer like thine,
To plead before th’ all-ruling shrine
For Britain lost and found!

And he, whose mild persuasive voice
Taught us in trials to rejoice,
Most like a faithful dove,
That by some ruined homestead builds,
And pours to the forsaken fields
His wonted lay of love:

Why comes he not to bear his part,
To lift and guide th’ exulting heart? –
A hand that cannot spars
Lies heavy on his gentle breast:
We wish him health; he sighs for rest,
And Heaven accepts the prayer.

Yes, go in peace, dear placid spright,
Ill spared; but would we store aright
Thy serious sweet farewell,
We need not grudge thee to the skies,
Sure after thee in time to rise,
With thee for ever dwell.

Till then, whene’er with duteous hand,
Year after year, my native Land
Her royal offering brings,
Upon the Altar lays the Crown,
And spreads her robes of old renown
Before the King of kings.

Be some kind spirit, likest thine,
Ever at hand, with airs divine
The wandering heart to seize;
Whispering, “How long hast thou to live,
That thou should’st Hope or Fancy gave
To flowers or crowns like these?”

There was once a happy family
Everything seem to be going right
Everybody was happy
There was no arguments or no fights
My mom and dad loved each other
Well at least I thought so
But after 2 years or so
All the love seemed to go
And disappear into the night
They began to argue
They began to fight
This hurted me inside
At night I cried
I hated for the family to fall apart
This truly broke my heart
When my father left the house
I didn’t care anymore
I wanted the family to be happy and full of love
But like my father that all went out the door
My heart felt so soar
I couldn’t love anymore
So I began to not care
Doing things I wouldn’t dare do
ONLY IF MY FATHER WAS HERE
My mom worries about me and wonder why I act this way
I never told her why
I just simply reply I’ll be ok
No one understands me
No one feels the pain I feel
When I think about how my family used to be
And how it is today
So a family the once used to be a family 3
Is now a family of 2
The house is quiet boring and blue
It’s not the same with out my dad here
But I can’t do nothing but cry (tear)

not one less
of this family that must stick together and always save
one another, be it
whatever, a financial distress
emotional stress, societal imbalance,
technological displacements
the family shall be first
even in crime
passion, the family is one
in all conspiracies
not one less, each must be saved from shame
from destructioni am tired of this,
i am getting out, i am now a stranger, alone
against this family, i speak my mind, i blow the whistle
now, kill me

i am a corpse, i have long been dead in the dark chambers
of this family
the secrets too deadly,

kill me now, i dare, only if you can….

I have special family memories
Of when I was just a child
My family did things together
More often than once in awhileWe would go to church together
Then afterward a Sunday drive
With roast beef and mashed potatoes
When back home we’d later arrive

We’d to go the movies on occasion
My mom, dad, brother and me
I remember especially seeing Bambi
Although that was sad for me to see

But family is so important
It creates a special bond
I have many family memories
Of which I’m so terribly fond!

A family is like a circle.
The connection never ends,
and even if at times it breaks,
in time it always mends.A family is like the stars.
Somehow they’re always there.
Families are those who help,
who support and always care.

A family is like a book.
The ending’s never clear,
but through the pages of the book,
their love is always near.

A family is many things.
With endless words that show
who they are and what they do
and how they teach you so you know.

But don’t be weary if it’s broken
or if through time it’s been so worn.
Families are like that –
they’re split up and always torn.

But even if this happens,
your family will always be.
They help define just who you are
and will be a part of you eternally.

I.

I cannot choose but think upon the time
When our two lives grew like two buds that kiss
At lightest thrill from the bee’s swinging chime,
Because the one so near the other is.

He was the elder and a little man
Of forty inches, bound to show no dread,
And I the girl that puppy-like now ran,
Now lagged behind my brother’s larger tread.

I held him wise, and when he talked to me
Of snakes and birds, and which God loved the best,
I thought his knowledge marked the boundary
Where men grew blind, though angels knew the rest.

If he said ‘Hush!’ I tried to hold my breath;
Wherever he said ‘Come!’ I stepped in faith.

II.

Long years have left their writing on my brow,
But yet the freshness and the dew-fed beam
Of those young mornings are about me now,
When we two wandered toward the far-off stream

With rod and line. Our basket held a store
Baked for us only, and I thought with joy
That I should have my share, though he had more,
Because he was the elder and a boy.

The firmaments of daisies since to me
Have had those mornings in their opening eyes,
The bunchèd cowslip’s pale transparency
Carries that sunshine of sweet memories,

And wild-rose branches take their finest scent
From those blest hours of infantine content.

III.

Our mother bade us keep the trodden ways,
Stroked down my tippet, set my brother’s frill,
Then with the benediction of her gaze
Clung to us lessening, and pursued us still

Across the homestead to the rookery elms,
Whose tall old trunks had each a grassy mound,
So rich for us, we counted them as realms
With varied products: here were earth-nuts found,

And here the Lady-fingers in deep shade;
Here sloping toward the Moat the rushes grew,
The large to split for pith, the small to braid;
While over all the dark rooks cawing flew,

And made a happy strange solemnity,
A deep-toned chant from life unknown to me.

IV.

Our meadow-path had memorable spots:
One where it bridged a tiny rivulet,
Deep hid by tangled blue Forget-me-nots;
And all along the waving grasses met

My little palm, or nodded to my cheek,
When flowers with upturned faces gazing drew
My wonder downward, seeming all to speak
With eyes of souls that dumbly heard and knew.

Then came the copse, where wild things rushed unseen,
And black-scathed grass betrayed the past abode
Of mystic gypsies, who still lurked between
Me and each hidden distance of the road.

A gypsy once had startled me at play,
Blotting with her dark smile my sunny day.

V.

Thus rambling we were schooled in deepest lore,
And learned the meanings that give words a soul,
The fear, the love, the primal passionate store,
Whose shaping impulses make manhood whole.

Those hours were seed to all my after good;
My infant gladness, through eye, ear, and touch,
Took easily as warmth a various food
To nourish the sweet skill of loving much.

For who in age shall roam the earth and find
Reasons for loving that will strike out love
With sudden rod from the hard year-pressed mind?
Were reasons sown as thick as stars above,

‘Tis love must see them, as the eye sees light:
Day is but Number to the darkened sight.

VI.

Our brown canal was endless to my thought;
And on its banks I sat in dreamy peace,
Unknowing how the good I loved was wrought,
Untroubled by the fear that it would cease.

Slowly the barges floated into view
Rounding a grassy hill to me sublime
With some Unknown beyond it, whither flew
The parting cuckoo toward a fresh spring time.

The wide-arched bridge, the scented elder-flowers,
The wondrous watery rings that died too soon,
The echoes of the quarry, the still hours
With white robe sweeping-on the shadeless noon,

Were but my growing self, are part of me,
My present Past, my root of piety.

VII.

Those long days measured by my little feet
Had chronicles which yield me many a text;
Where irony still finds an image meet
Of full-grown judgments in this world perplext.

One day my brother left me in high charge,
To mind the rod, while he went seeking bait,
And bade me, when I saw a nearing barge,
Snatch out the line lest he should come too late.

Proud of the task, I watched with all my might
For one whole minute, till my eyes grew wide,
Till sky and earth took on a strange new light
And seemed a dream-world floating on some tide –

A fair pavilioned boat for me alone
Bearing me onward through the vast unknown.

VIII.

But sudden came the barge’s pitch-black prow,
Nearer and angrier came my brother’s cry,
And all my soul was quivering fear, when lo!
Upon the imperilled line, suspended high,

A silver perch! My guilt that won the prey,
Now turned to merit, had a guerdon rich
Of songs and praises, and made merry play,
Until my triumph reached its highest pitch

When all at home were told the wondrous feat,
And how the little sister had fished well.
In secret, though my fortune tasted sweet,
I wondered why this happiness befell.

‘The little lass had luck,’ the gardener said:
And so I learned, luck was with glory wed.

IX.

We had the self-same world enlarged for each
By loving difference of girl and boy:
The fruit that hung on high beyond my reach
He plucked for me, and oft he must employ

A measuring glance to guide my tiny shoe
Where lay firm stepping-stones, or call to mind
‘This thing I like my sister may not do,
For she is little, and I must be kind.’

Thus boyish Will the nobler mastery learned
Where inward vision over impulse reigns,
Widening its life with separate life discerned,
A Like unlike, a Self that self restrains.

His years with others must the sweeter be
For those brief days he spent in loving me.

X.

His sorrow was my sorrow, and his joy
Sent little leaps and laughs through all my frame;
My doll seemed lifeless and no girlish toy
Had any reason when my brother came.

I knelt with him at marbles, marked his fling
Cut the ringed stem and make the apple drop,
Or watched him winding close the spiral string
That looped the orbits of the humming top.

Grasped by such fellowship my vagrant thought
Ceased with dream-fruit dream-wishes to fulfil;
My aëry-picturing fantasy was taught
Subjection to the harder, truer skill

That seeks with deeds to grave a thought-tracked line,
And by ‘What is,’ ‘What will be’ to define.

XI.

School parted us; we never found again
That childish world where our two spirits mingled
Like scents from varying roses that remain
One sweetness, nor can evermore be singled.

Yet the twin habit of that early time
Lingered for long about the heart and tongue:
We had been natives of one happy clime
And its dear accent to our utterance clung.

Till the dire years whose awful name is Change
Had grasped our souls still yearning in divorce,
And pitiless shaped them in two forms that range
Two elements which sever their life’s course.

But were another childhood-world my share,
I would be born a little sister there.

I will never take for granted
how greatly I’ve been blessed;
For when it comes to parents,
Mom and Dad, you are the best!You nurtured and protected me
and taught me with great care.
And every time I’ve needed you,
you were always there.

If you could look into my heart,
how quickly you would see
the special place you hold there
and how much you mean to me.

May you receive the blessings
you are so deserving of
for your caring and your sharing,
and each sacrifice of love.

And may you carry in your hearts
these words forever true…
No parents anywhere on earth
could be more loved than you.

They say the world is round, and yet
I often think it square,
So many little hurts we get
From corners here and there.
But one great truth in life I’ve found,
While journeying to the West-
The only folks who really wound
Are those we love the best.The man you thoroughly despise
Can rouse your wrath, ’tis true;
Annoyance in your heart will rise
At things mere strangers do;
But those are only passing ills;
This rule all lives will prove;
The rankling wound which aches and thrills
Is dealt by hands we love.

The choicest garb, the sweetest grace,
Are oft to strangers shown;
The careless mien, the frowning face,
Are given to our own.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.

Love does not grow on every tree,
Nor true hearts yearly bloom.
Alas for those who only see
This cut across a tomb!
But, soon or late, the fact grows plain
To all through sorrow’s test:
The only folks who give us pain
Are those we love the best.

My family is the ocean around us.

My father is the hurricane,
knocking anything and everybody out of his path.

My mother is the sunshine after the storm (my father),
clearing and calming everything else.

My oldest brother is the sand,
kicked and blown away by my dad,
but warmed with care by my mom.

My oldest sister is the breeze in the wind,
cool, quiet, and there when you need her.

My other two brothers are the stingrays,
dangerous,
but also willing to fight anyone who comes along.

And I,
I am an old ship at the bottom of the sea,
lost, abandoned, but full of memories.

Blowin’ Cannabis clouds
i let my family down
gone away are the days
I was the family clown
Long for the day
when they can say
I make my family proud.Feel like they weren’t there back then
but i need my family now
i need my family now
If it comes down to it,
Bleed for my family proud
What do you think of me now?

Probably askin’ yourself how
I can go from the lame
all the way to main
through all the pain
I ain’t crack and melt down.
can’t even back myself now

I gotta maintain
steady fuelin’ my flame
so I can refrain & drain
my brain of self doubt
can’t trust no one else to do it
gotta help myself out

Blind from the rage, i’m in a cage
I gotta get myself out, so I can let myself see
I’m in a mental prison, only I got the key
to set myself free
Let myself be the me that I can be
when I turn the me into we!

I wanted to tell you on this day
how much you mean to me
and welcome you with open arms
into our family.It was so easy for me to see
right from the very start
the special way you loved my son,
the kindness in your heart.

Thank you for the happiness
you have brought into his life.
I know that he is very proud
to have you as his wife.

And on the day that you shall wed,
how happy I will be,
for my son will gain a loving wife,
and a daughter will be given to me.

In the first place of my life
something which comes before all others
there is the sacred and holylike
recurring memory of an old teethless
bushy white-haired man
gesturing with his wrinkled hands
and squinty eyes for me to walk to him
sitting on the edge of his wooden
summer bed

being supported and guided along
like a newborn spotted fawn
who rises to the cool and minty wind
i kept looking at his yellow
and cracked fingernails
they moved back and forth against the stove
and they shined against the kerosene-
darkened
kitchen and bedroom walls

i floated over the floor towards him
and he smiled as he lifted me up to the
cardboard
ceiling and on there were symbols i later read
as that of emily
her scratched-in name alongside the face
of a lonely softball plater

remembrance two: it was shortly after he
held me
or else it was a day
or a couple of months
or a couple of years later when i saw him next
the bodies of three young men leaned against him
as he staggered out towards the night

i never knew what closed him
why i never saw him again
he was on the floor with a blanket
over his still and quiet body
above me there was a mouth moving
it was the face of a woman who had opened
the door for the three young men
she pointed to his body
this is your grandfather

and then i remember the daylight
with the bald-headed man in overalls
he too mentioned the absence
of my grandfather
i understood them both

i picture the appletree and its shade
as he was talking to me i saw a group
of people on the green grass
on the ground were table and linen cloths
with bowls and dishes of fruits and meats

the bald-headed man in overalls stood
in the brilliance of the summer daylight
his eyebrows made his face look concerned
or worried

later he stood on the same grass
he had been chosen to fill my grandfather’s
empty place

the new colored blankets around his waist
and chest glistened with fresh
fibrous wool
the beads reflected the good weather
the earth and its people stood and danced
with the beautifully clothed man
who was my grandfather
standing in between time
watching the daylight pass through
his eyes

from then on i only saw him occasionally
he would stand on his tractor
waving to each passing car on the road
as he drove home from
the soybean fields
or else he would converse with my two uncles
that the blood which ran through their
father’s veins
and theirs was unlike the rest of the tribe
in that it came from the beginnings
unlike ours

I don’t know when it happened.
I don’t know when she came,
But she’s the one I always knew.
Grandma was her name.She taught me how to tie my shoes.
She taught me how to talk,
And though I can’t remember,
I think she taught me how to walk.

When all the other kids in school
Would talk about Mom and Dad,
I wondered where my parents were;
That made me kinda sad.

And sometimes there were days I’d cry
Or hide my head in shame.
But Grandma took it all in stride
And loved me all the same.

She’d wrap her arms around me
And kiss me on the head.
She’d tell me that she loved me
When she tucked me into bed.

Being a teen, I remember the days
When being with friends was more fun.
And I wondered what it would have been like
To actually be someone’s son,

To have a regular family,
Some siblings, a mom, and a dad.
What had I done to deserve less than others?
Sometimes I felt so mad.

“It’s alright, it’s okay,” Grandma would say.
“One day you’ll understand why.
Life just isn’t fair to everyone, you see.
It’s always okay to cry.”

And when I went off to college,
I met the love of my life.
It was Grandma who was the first I told
That I planned to make her my wife.

Soon after I’d become a father,
For that I could hardly wait.
To have a child of my very own,
And to make my Grandma a “Great.”

A little girl to share her name,
For all that she’d given me.
So much I owed to Grandma.
That was plain to see.

As time passed and life grew short
I hoped my Grandma knew
That it was her love and her support
That always got me through.

If I could tell her one more thing,
“Thanks Grandma,” is what I ‘d say,
“For loving me and making me
The man I am today.”

With open arms
They welcomed me
With open arms
They let me stayWith open hearts
They loved me
With open hearts
They show they cared

With open minds
They listend to me
With open minds
they believed me

Its very hard to find people
People that care
So hard infact
I think it’s rare

I.
I haven’t spoken to my brother in ten years.
His brain was slammed in a car accident,
never got any therapy because dad didn’t believe in it.
Somehow he came into some money
and spent it on surplus military vehicles,
which he leases to Hollywood from time to time.II.
When my dad’s appendix burst, he didn’t know it,
tried to kill the pain with bourbon,
finally phoning me in delirious distress
and I called the ambulance.
My sister wouldn’t let the paramedics in.
The police came with a megaphone,
busted down the door.

III.
I hadn’t spoken to my alcoholic mother in 13 years
when a stranger called and said she was dying.
I flew to Chicago and spent the afternoon
at her comatose side telling her body
what I’d been doing for the last 13 years.
She died the next afternoon
while I was out getting a sandwich.

Of all the silver and the gold,
of all the gems our eyes behold,
we look around and see the sky
and all the clouds go rolling by.
We hear the noise of aer-o-planes,
and listen to the birds that sing.
And then O’ God inside of me a voice
speaks so soft and sweet! And then I
raise my hands to Thee and Thank You
for my family. The trees in all their beauty be….
In God’s creation speaks to me. The
grass, the flowers and all the shrubs
and indications of God’s love. The
mountains, valleys, hills, and vales
and even along some lonesome trail
and then O’ God inside of me a voice speaks so soft
and sweet, and then I raise my hands to Thee
and Thank You for my family. We are all created by God above, and
brought together by His love. We are one
blood, we are all kin, and we are also
each others friend. Wherever we travel across this land, we pray that God will
hold our hands. From every sea to shining sea,
where ever I go, wherever I be the soft sweet
voice speaks inside of me, and then I raise
my hands to Thee, O’ God, Thank You for my
family.

Imagine a Human Family picnic
where everyone shows:
from every sect and hue and nation
gathered at a common table.The Almighty swoops down to bless us:
known to all from Torah, Q’uran and Gospels
and countless other books of wisdom –
known to our souls’ aspirations.

After dessert, the Holy One
quakes the earth with his scepter
beside the sacrificial pyre,

“Brothers, sisters and cousins,
images of your creator,
every unholy war
desecrates the face of God
and there is no other kind.
Cast your savage pride to the flames
and live together in peace! ”

Obediently, we toss our
pride onto the pyre
recoiling from its smoldering stench.
The Lion lies down to preen the Lamb’s fleece
and Universal Love, released from her chains,
Walks free in every land.

At Christmas, families
gather around a family Christmas tree
to open gifts of love
each has left there for one another.
The tree sparkles
with lights and coloured tinsel,
while on top there sits an angel
to watch over everyone.
Carefully wrapped presents adorn the floor
around the bottom of the tree.
Each has been wrapped
and sealed with a loving kiss,
one for you and one for me.
Then on Christmas morn
as the dawn breaks the sky
the children climb out of their bed
and tiptoe downstairs to the presents,
getting ready to explore.
Before the day is over
there will be shrills of laughter
and joy ringing out
at all they have received
from beneath a family Christmas tree.

Friends and family love you no matter what you do,
Friends and family Always help each other though.
Having wonderful people to help you along,
They encourage and inspire you to stay strong.Friends and family are the trees of strength,
When you need their help, they’ll go to any length.
They never judge you, just give you lots of love,
What wonderful blessings they are from God above.

Friends and family keep in touch,
You can lean on them, they’ll be your crutch.
They email or call day by day
And for each other they always pray.

There was a spirit of friendly fellowship
In the Family Reunion Days of long ago
When the young and old gathered together
And softened the day’s beautiful glow.I can still detect a variety of odors
Of barbecue chicken, pie and cake
And the sizzling steaks on the grill,
Like the elderly members use to make.

I recollect the old timers telling stories
About how rough life use to be,
The Great Depression and lengthy war years,
Heartfelt accounts they seemed to me.

As the evening shadows began to deepen,
I always recited a simple, thankful prayer
For all the blessings, joys, and happiness
Our family was willing to share.

Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon,
If you listen to popular rumour;
From morning to night he’s so joyous and bright,
And he bubbles with wit and good humour!
He’s so quaint and so terse, both in prose and in verse;
Yet though people forgive his transgression,
There are one or two rules that all Family Fools
Must observe, if they love their profession.
There are one or two rules,
Half-a-dozen, maybe,
That all family fools,
Of whatever degree,
Must observe if they love their profession.If you wish to succeed as a jester, you’ll need
To consider each person’s auricular:
What is all right for B would quite scandalise C
(For C is so very particular);
And D may be dull, and E’s very thick skull
Is as empty of brains as a ladle;
While F is F sharp, and will cry with a carp,
That he’s known your best joke from his cradle!
When your humour they flout,
You can’t let yourself go;
And it DOES put you out
When a person says, “Oh!
I have known that old joke from my cradle!”

If your master is surly, from getting up early
(And tempers are short in the morning),
An inopportune joke is enough to provoke
Him to give you, at once, a month’s warning.
Then if you refrain, he is at you again,
For he likes to get value for money:
He’ll ask then and there, with an insolent stare,
“If you know that you’re paid to be funny?”
It adds to the tasks
Of a merryman’s place,
When your principal asks,
With a scowl on his face,
If you know that you’re paid to be funny?

Comes a Bishop, maybe, or a solemn D.D. –
Oh, beware of his anger provoking!
Better not pull his hair – don’t stick pins in his chair;
He won’t understand practical joking.
If the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack,
You may get a bland smile from these sages;
But should it, by chance, be imported from France,
Half-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!
It’s a general rule,
Though your zeal it may quench,
If the Family Fool
Makes a joke that’s TOO French,
Half-a-crown is stopped out of his wages!

Though your head it may rack with a bilious attack,
And your senses with toothache you’re losing,
And you’re mopy and flat – they don’t fine you for that
If you’re properly quaint and amusing!
Though your wife ran away with a soldier that day,
And took with her your trifle of money;
Bless your heart, they don’t mind – they’re exceedingly kind –
They don’t blame you – as long as you’re funny!
It’s a comfort to feel
If your partner should flit,
Though YOU suffer a deal,
THEY don’t mind it a bit –
They don’t blame you – so long as you’re funny!

To my dearest family, some things I’d like to say,
But first of all to let you know that I arrived okay.
I’m writing this from Heaven, where I dwell with God above,
Where there are no tears or sadness, there is just eternal Love.Please do not be unhappy, just because I’m out of sight,
Remember that I’m with you, every morning, noon and night.
That day I had to leave you, when my life on earth was through,
God picked me up and hugged me, and said, ‘ I welcome you’.

‘It’s good to have you back again.
You were missed while you were gone.
As for your dearest family, they’ll be here later on.
I need you here so badly as part of my big plan.
There’s so much that we have to do, to help our mortal man’.

Then God gave me a list of things he wished for me to do.
And foremost on that list of mine, is to watch and care for you.
I will be beside you, every day of the week and year,
And when you’re sad I’m standing there, to wipe away the tear.

And when you lie in bed at night, the day’s chores put to flight,
God and I are closest to you in the middle of the night.
When you think of my life on Earth, and all those loving years,
Because you’re only human, there’s bound to be some tears.

One thing is for certain, though my life on Earth is over,
I am closer to you now than I ever was before.
And to my many friends, trust God knows what is best.
I am not far away from you, I’m just beyond the crest.

There are rocky roads ahead for you and many hills to climb,
Together we can do it, taking one day at a time.
It was my philosophy and please I’d like for you,
To give unto the world, so the world will give to you.

If you can help someone who’s in sorrow or in pain,
Then you can say to God at night, my day was not in vain.
And now I am contented that my life it was worthwhile,
Knowing as I passed along the way, I made somebody smile.

When you’re walking down the street and I am on your mind,
I’m walking in your footsteps, only half a step behind.
And when you feel a gentle breeze of wind upon your face,
That’s me giving you a great big hug, or just a s oft embrace.

When it’s time for you to go from that body to be free,
Remember you are not going, you are coming home to me.
I will always love you, from that place way up above,
I will be in touch again soon.
P.S. God sends his love.

For Tammy, my beautiful Aunt

There is an extremely fat man
who lives in a gargantuan size house
with his attractive but butterball wife
and their two and one third kids
all of whom have flunked P.E.
while dad, mom and offspring
continue to feed on a plethora
of morbidly obese things to eat
And every now and then
they’ll remember to toss
their two pudgy dogs
who are always laying at their feet
an occasional scrap of fatty meat
Their lone old cat sits and stares
with an extreme sense of satisfaction
displayed fully as it is showing on his face…..
It is he who still has
more than the one life left to live……

Friends may come and friends may go
Family is first and this I know
Putting friends first is a mistake
And not one that you should makeFamily’s forever and this I know
Friends enter your life and then they go
Making friends is fun trust me with this
But not something you would miss

Love your family while they are here
Keep their love very near
Family can leave the world at any time
So don’t make yourself feel like slime

Family is here to comfort you
I know your friends do this too
Without your family you would be lost
Hold on to them no matter the cost

My family will forever be in my heart,
My sister’s mean the world to me,
More than life,
All I ever wanted was a complete family,
To have a mother whom I never met,
My family will always remain who they are in my heart and soul,
My family is more important than my friends and my lover,
Family will always come first,
Family is family,
No matter what they did they’ll always remain family.

Family comes together
For always and forever
In sickness and in health
In poverty or in wealth
Family comes together
For always and forever
Without any reason
Anytime or any season
Family comes together
For always and forever
In death or in life
In happiness or in strife
Family comes together
For always and forever
In anger or in kindness
Whether all seeing or in blindness
Family comes together
For always and forever
Whether for work or for play
They somehow find a way
For family to come together
Because families are forever

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple’s a rose,
And the pear is, and so’s
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose –
But were always a rose.

One would be in less danger
From the wiles of a stranger
If one’s own kin and kith
Were more fun to be with.