LOCKED

A Poem

The rattling of keys and coins
in his right trouser pocket
sends silent shivers through
our hearts

night
after
night

but mum stands stoic
as he stumbles into his castle
with bloodshot eyes and
fists like granite on her skin.

underneath the glass-topped dining table,
two pairs of observant tearful eyes
four pairs of shivering miniature limbs
wrapped around each other.

three racing hearts
wait for snores to sprout
from his snout, for the sun to shove him out the door.
three of us
shaken and spun

day
after
day

pick up the shards he leaves behind
and whisper to the one above
to let him drop dead in his pristine suit

the breath squeezed from his body
by the cruel weeds of hate that grow
from his black heart

his bones limp and deflated,
his granite fists shattered into
a thousand pieces never ever
to be put together again.

Lockdown.
The heavy steel door
of a prison cell is slammed
in our faces.

Trapped and choked,
the rattling slowly settling in
our bones as he sits hypnotised
in front of the television

day
after
day

amber demons dance
in the crystal glass
in his hand

shakily lifted to his mouth
in slow frequent motions

three pairs of worried eyes
watch and wait for the monster
to rear its horned head again

night
after
night

like a broken record playing
dreadful and dreaded music
on repeat.

absent is our daily respite
of his presence at the desk job
he loves with the love diverted
from us like a clogged
river running awry.

Suddenly
he rises
and shouts
and spits
and hurls
stone words

fearlessly

she stands
unswerving
unmoving
unbending

reignited
granite

us
begging
then fighting

then his slight slip

then us dragging her
with too small hands
up the stairs
to hide
to wait it out

he follows
his socked feet
too fast on tiled stairs
his brain foggy
his heart bitter
his words sharp
his heart hard

coins and keys rattle.

then through vision
blurred with familiar tears
we watch his foot lift
and miss

but his head
does not miss the
unyielding concrete stair

and a crack
resounds

reverberating in
rhythm with our
restless hearts

and the gusher of
red squirting from
his forehead
silences our tears
and fears.

outside
lockdown continues.
Inside
the locked door opens.