Broken Vases
GiaB ‘Dear Genie’ prompt #1: family
Published in
Jan 29, 2021
At the beach, where, in the movies,
the couples laugh and tan and kiss,
mum and dad barked and bit,
until we headed home —
mum in tears, dad, stern-faced driving —
the rain lashing down, hear it
pound.
On the way home, both of them
staring at anything except
each other, or me,
stopping for a toilet break,
sneaking around the side
of the petrol station where
a woman sold her wares.
And later, sitting
in funereal silence
on our respective chairs,
going to my bag and
pulling out the vase —
brittle and precious with
grey, turquoise, and speckles
of white foam —
and handing it to her.
Mum stared at it for a good while,
then she looked at me,
finally.
