#inlaws
I throw comments to the wind
Ignorance keeps them afloat
I no longer take to heart
******** gliding from your throat
Your words grow weak
They wear thin
Confidence becoming strong
Don the realization that
Your home is where we don't belong
Insults get scattered like leaves
Falling from bare branches
Thoughts flow from your mind
Never-ending negative avalanches
Ashes I have been buried under
Remains of each mistake
Not charred hiding places but a jail
Out which I must break
Gotta keep from accumulating
Passive movements difficult to avoid
Hit walls hardest speeding fast
Crash like earthbound asteroids
It's great you are switching directions
Patterns easy to accurately predict
Mild
Temperate
Always fair-weathered
Around us come unhitched
You loved us once..
Has that gone?
Distracted by vultures' dying food
Rumors
Carcasses of gossip they feed on
Believing tails they allude
We are doing good
We are just fine
Have a job and a roof overhead
Everybody underestimates what we can do
By 30 we'll probably be dead
I anticipated this thoughts arrival
It still doesn't feel quite real
Stuff packed in bags and boxes
Across the porch surreal
We'll take pride and possessions
Say farewell spread with awkward "ums"
Mumbling how one day soon
We will spend some time that never comes
Dec 6, 2019
Dec 6, 2019 at 4:22 AM UTC
In laws like you are hard to find.
Fun and thoughtful and ever so kind.
To be a Horne means the world to me.
Part of the family, the best place to be.
Dec 7, 2018
Dec 7, 2018 at 5:33 PM UTC
Christmas at the inlaws, posed great challenges because
Was a chance at first impressions I could make
The family quite a bunch, secret Santa, formal lunch
All would test, but there was something more at stake
Further to their traditions, the Australian institution
Back yard cricket, the game in which I must partake
Both nervous and excited, see I love it unrequited
For impressions twas the icing on the cake
I considered myself skilled, both flamboyant and strong willed
And the game very seriously I would take
The brother and the dad, the biggest threats I saw I had
To dominate for the glory I would slake
With lunch dusted and done, we went out into the sun
Inspect the pitch, had it a fresh mow and a rake
A slope to orchard side, sticks as wickets, bail astride
Chose to bowl, the game was on make no mistake
Much to my surprise, dad was good, I did surmise
I bowled well, but his batting didn't break
He retired steeled, and I went out into the field
For his respect, and his daughter's, I'd not flake
When my turn came to bat, the brother bowled one flat
Out at my toes, applying heat, see if I'd quake
But I settled into play, and hit them all around the way
Was time to showcase and leave them in my wake
I retired not out too, and dad to bat again was due
Keen to bowl at him despite the muscle ache
At the last I took his stump, and the crowd well they did jump
Saw my determination was one that wouldn't shake
The game renewed my bond, for his daughter and beyond
To join this man, and his family was the sake
Mum called time for tea, and we left the field with glee
We were one now, and it was time for cake.
Oct 15, 2018
Oct 15, 2018 at 12:00 AM UTC
I'll never stand between you and your family,
but I will point out when they use you.
My relationship with members will differ from yours.
There are somethings I'm not sure I'll ever forgive.
Simply put, we are different people,
marching through this life together.
You have to understand
you may be able to move on,
and I may not be able to.
I have a great fake smile,
but I am not going to lie.
That person is dead to me,
that's not something I joke about.
I am done with them,
even if you're not.
I hope you understand.
Oct 5, 2018
Oct 5, 2018 at 2:41 PM UTC
The punitive silences,
the bad atmosphere they generate,
the mind-games they use to try to **** you in
are telltale signs of the toxic person.
It could be your in-laws, a parent, coworker, your boss or spouse,
a sibling, a roommate, boyfriend or girlfriend,
someone you want out of the house.
Toxic people want to make you miserable.
Especially if you're a decent sort, they hone in on you like a heat-seeking missile.
They spew their negativity and blame it on you.
They lie constantly, or twist the facts to suit their changing needs of the moment
and they never apologize (so don't expect an apology, ever).
With a toxic person there is no reciprocity.
They sprinkle their toxic dust on you. It makes them feel better.
Their ulterior goal is to demean you, to make you feel smaller.
They project their worst tendencies onto you,
find fault with you for traits you don't possess---
a shadow of the **** that lurks inside them.
They try to dictate the emotional atmosphere
through their attitude or twisted mood.
They drain you of your energy, bring you down,
They'll always find a reason why your good news isn't great news.
Their agenda is to cut you down to their size,
to manipulate and control
to **** you over while they play the injured party.
Confront the bully. Speak up to the manipulator, the trickster, the backstabber.
but beyond a certain point
there is no point in arguing with them.
Don't try to change the toxic person. You can't.
You'd have better luck changing an orangutan into **** sapiens.
Only a shrink could change them, and then only if they hit rock-bottom.
Don't try to justify yourself. It's a waste of time which would only draw you deeper into their net.
Set boundaries to keep their negativity in check.
Stop trying to please them.
Let that toxic somebody in your life know you're onto them
and they can't get away with it anymore.
Don't fall into their trap, don't get caught up in their life-dramas
or try to get them out of trouble. Don't let them instill guilt in you.
But try not to take their toxicity personally.
Remember, it's them, not you. You are not to blame
though they desperately want you to feel you've done something wrong.
If necessary (and if possible), delete the toxic person from your life and move on.
Know when enough is enough.
Saying good riddance doesn't necessarily mean you hate them, it means
your own well-being comes first.
Immunize yourself. Preserve your inner strength.
Set your own rules.
And, when possible, just walk away.
Jul 11, 2017
Jul 11, 2017 at 2:23 AM UTC
I’ll take the left side, you take the right
cause I’d rather not be the one who broke your parents’
“genuinely antique” bed
I heard the wood give way just now
when we sat on the edge
and I know, tonight, it’s coming down.
I should probably be more of your gentleman,
but I think that’s what put us into this mess
when we got to the cabin I complimented your ma,
“Natasha is such a unique name in this age”
Her reply, flat through the grimace
“its an old and ugly Russian name, call me Nat.”
Your dad invited me to walk in the woods,
where I tripped over a root, ten feet in
and threw your father head first into poison oak.
It’s hard to tell through the swelling,
but I’m pretty sure he’s still scowling.
Then trying to help after dinner I knocked their
“two-hundred-dollar, honest-to-jesus, Napa Valley’s Best”
bottle a’ wine
onto their “ten-thousand-dollar, straight from Andkhoy.”
Afghani carpet.
So, I’m sorry
but I can imagine you’d forgive me
your boyfriend,
who loves and adores you,
for sleeping this day off
and letting the night drop out from under you.
Mar 16, 2016
Mar 16, 2016 at 7:48 PM UTC