Family

A favorite theme of the tortured poet
is their dysfunctional family
and the barbaric treatment
rained down on them from
uncaring and sadistic parents.

But what is a family anyway?
It's a bunch of assholes you hate --
but through custom and genetics
are obligated to love.

My family was not genetically bound
and the roof over our head was county-poured
concrete that formed the culvert
we squatted in.
We were a family of people rejected by family.
We needed each other for survival
but the obligation was somehow different
because we were not formed by
the eggs and sperm of common mothers and fathers.

But whether a family is created by genetics
or circumstance -- some things remain the same.
The accumulated sediment of resentment
broke the bonds of circumstance
just like it broke the bonds of genetics.