tomorrow
it will have been ten years since
my late aunt's mental instability proved
to be the nail in her own coffin
her four youngest children were all taken away
in a police car
right before my very eyes
& right on John-John's birthday
we were all going out for ice cream
when the sheriff pulled up
I wonder if he still remembers it
the look of horror on my mother's face
we'd been caring for them for some time
my oldest cousin got to stay behind
he was old enough to fend for himself
but the two boys and the baby twin girls were gone like that


I didn't see them for five years
the heavens graced our family and kept them all together
through the help of a wonderful family nearby
one day they all drove down when I was 17
it was one of the happiest moments of my life
to see that those boys who were like my little brothers
were suddenly towering over me


though tomorrow I know will be rough
it feels rough today
& I can see that the boys feel it too
I often wonder what that **** woman was thinking
if it was just too much for her
if she couldn't deal
her body was found in the morning
the day before I graduated college
she was always taking pills
she always hated my guts
always screamed at me
she instilled within me the fear of life
but now she's gone
leaving behind broken children
loved, but damaged