Family Flames

Sometimes I feel like a criminal
who has destroyed the lives of a whole family:
my family.

I feel like I have torn apart my entire home
and burned the hearts of everyone inside.

First my mother,
who became ill because of me,
and now has a daughter she can never be proud of.

My oldest brother,
who carries wrongly-placed guilt
for not seeing the truth which I chose to hide
from his view.

Another brother,
who went from being my best friend
to a drunken stranger I can't bear to be around.

My final brother,
who I once thought hated me so much,
until he broke down after learning how much he had hurt me -
and I hope he knows how much I truly forgive him now.

And last, but by no means least,
my father - the gentleman who puts his family before his life.
This hero kept the house from burning down
through all of our traumatic family flames,
even though it meant he suffered untreatable burns.

Only now, it seems to be his time to fall to the ground,
even harder than us all...

... and I only wish we could pick him back up,
the way he always managed to do with us.

Saffie
24

12/6/15