Large

A poem about me. Black and white is of me at age 13. Other photo is me and my "best friend sister" I have 4 sisters and 6 brothers in all.

I'm in blue. My best friend younger sister in red.

Large

They say of hatchlings, the first thing  they see
They imprint on and bond to as "momma".
What an interesting thing that be!
All part of nature's drama.

I wonder if it's the same for humans?
What a messed up soul that would be
If the first thing seen WASN'T "momma"
And then there's a case like me...

I'm sure I bonded to "momma",
Did I see her first? I don't know.
But I know my siblings raised me as much
As ever she did... maybe more.

I often felt empty, neglected.
Unloved and ignored quite a lot.
I often cried and my siblings
Called me "melodramatic tot".

There were nurturing things that happened.
I felt lucky and blessed most the time.
I didn't really know a difference
Or if others experienced the same.

But a part of me inside knew
That most families weren't like mine.
They were small, two children to dote on,
Not eleven or even nine.

And when things I thought my Momma should do
Were delegated to others...
My sisters playing mom's role instead,
And sometimes even my brothers.

I was sad and disappointed,
And school only made it worse.
My school friends usually had their own room,
I was oh so jealous, of course.

Being tenth of eleven, you learn to share,
And expect getting hand-me-downs.
It mattered not if I thought 'twasn't fair,
They weren't impressed by my frowns.

Mostly I thought a large family
Was the very best part of my birth.
I even felt sorry for "only children"
With no "best friend sister" on earth.

The "only child" must get bored a lot,
Alone with all of their toys.
No big brothers protecting them
From bullying school yard boys.

I've decided I'm luckier than most
Because something money can't buy
Is the love of a family, large like mine
A truly blessed person am I.

Reviews

[Kim]

Wow, very personal write and powerful.
Very nicely written.