Family Portrait

Family Portrait (全家福) - Radical Face

So we start with my father as a boy barely spoke a word of english fell in love from a distance He watched her working from the back fence

He learned some words and some clever turns of phrase from his father's book of poets

She wasn't taken in that instant but grew impressed with his persistence

They met each other out by moonlight made love in the nearby woods then her folks became suspicious when her cycle broke that settled it

They stole away without their goodbyes got married in a foreign town made their way as best as they could Found jobs and settled down And then time moved on

I was born in a river of blood on sheets from the wedding day

The room was dark and the stench was thick

My father couldn't stand the smell of it

Mama died in the night cause the nearest doctor couldn't stem the blood loss

Father cried out on the back porch

My sister held me at the neighbor's house

Oh my there was a storm then there was a flood of a different kind

Father's eyes were often vacant but his hands were rarely quiet

Sister learned to take her hits well both from life and the physical kind

But I was never one to lie down despite picked the fight

So we designed our hells

Father turned into a drinker a dark bastard with a wooden heart

Sister learned to be a mother before she never played another part

And I became a little terror I lashed out at whatever's around

Took some time before I settled to find a mind that was somewhat sound

And like it always does time rushed on

Six years later father dies in the very same bedroom

Many said it was the grief that did it

I have to say it's cause he hung himself

To be honest neither sister nor myself ever much reqret his passing

But I admit it was a nice thing to always know that we could feed ourselves