Heredity

I want to live on a sailboat

Somewhere in warm waters

Sun bleached hair and leathery skin

A new harbor every morning

But I hate to be alone

 

I’ve been known to take my lunch

In a stall, with a curtesy flush

To cover up my straws’ exploration

Of an almost empty cup. Funny

I wash my hands before going to the bathroom

 

My mother burns candles, and

Warns me that my great aunt was

 

An agoraphobic

 

While I sit next to her, suffocated

By lavender, as she writes poetry

 

‘Shh, I’m writing’ is the answer

To my movements on the couch.

If she could shush the birds outside

She would

Nothing should distract her escape

 

Into an affair with a salsa instructor

She doesn’t read my dad her poems

They both have secrets, I know

I’ve seen the cigarettes in the toilet

I guess I got my eating habits from my father

 

I posted this earlier today, but it was deleted for linking to an image. Thank you to u/TheRabbitIsMe for a very kind reply. I didn't get a chance to respond on the original, but as you can see, I really enjoyed your feedback.

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