She smashed the village into bits
Water, glitter everywhere
Another of her childish fits
Whipping snow globes through the air

She kicked the dog
She slapped the cat
Killed her brother's frog
With a baseball bat

She broke the window
And crawled outside
She used the garbage can to hide
But no one looked for her all day
The garbage man threw her away

Now she's under a lump
Of rot at the dump
Tell her mother and dad
Now she's really gone bad.

Old Italian Ladies walk around in long black dresses
A handkerchief tucked up one sleeve for blowing little noses
They are soft and round, with flappy forearms
And give greasy lipstick kisses as they clutch you to their chests

Old Italian Ladies smell like olive oil and flour
And they give out oozy chocolates with red cherry sauce inside
Their enormous laps are like lumpy old recliners
They sing songs about amore' as they rock you off to sleep

Old Italian Ladies let you go down to the basement
Where the air is cool and shelves are lined with jars of pickled green beans
And wide mouthed bottles bursting with clumpy red tomatoes
They use creaky wooden step stools when they need to reach up high

Old Italian Ladies pierce your ears with just a needle
A bar of soap, a lump of ice
A loop of string to make the earring
And a tiny glass of anisette for the tears after the sting

Old Italian Ladies were the matrons of my childhood
Intoning rosaries, invoking saints
Making garlic studded meatballs
Dispensing love as freely as hard candy from their purses.

Did you really just say what I thought you did?
You couldn't have
My high heel isn't sticking up your ***.

I know that you look up to me;
For one, because I'm six feet tall,
But I think that I have done my best,
To keep you safe -- away from all,
The little things that ****** me up.

For you are young: with scathing tongue,
Opinions you cannot express,
A lack of words,
And fear of hurt,
And are yet to fully comprehend
The singing of your encaged thoughts.

But listen to me little sister,
I cannot be your wall forever,
For, one day, you will draw your sword
And embark upon your own endeavour,
To quell the beasts that hide within.

You will only ever need these words,
And the gumption to unleash their rage,
To part the seas of social norms,
To dispute the words on any page,
But I warn you; they bring trouble.

For one day, little sister, I
Will lie a living corpse in bed,
Encroached upon by inner beasts,
Of longing, love and loneliness,
But I assure you, you are safe.

For I was one who did not speak --
Until the world was tucked in bed;
So when the world lends you its ear,
Discard the lines that they want read --
And tell them what your brother said:

*******.

All these years I've been repressed
Choked by feelings unexpressed
Boiling, bubbling deep inside
Buried in my hole, I hide
It's a grave I dug myself
Because you left me by myself
And you hung me out to dry
All so you could up and die

I think about you often
Petal pink inside your coffin
Your memory, relentlessly
Lunges up to strangle me
Your nails like talons, painted pink
So well preserved
But you still stink

I wish you could have told me why
You never even said goodbye
My childhood memories, out of synch
As I remember you, in pink
So fragile as you decompose
And I'm the only one who knows

...and sometimes, I still hear your voice
I block it out
You made your choice
You took responsibility
For never coming back to me.

You are a volcano
Spewing bitter ashes
Your lips are scarred with blisters
You choke on molten lava

You are a tornado
A black and angry funnel
Touching down with vengeance
Wreaking black destruction

Every time I'm in your path
You try to burn and break me
Scorch my skin with accusations
Annihilate my existence

You clearly fail to understand
That while you erupt and storm
The things your wrath devours
Are all inside of you

You are a volcano
You are a tornado
You are my beloved child
You are my force of nature

I hope someday that you will find
Refreshing rains and cooling breezes
You are the maker of weather
I am the eye of the storm.