ROOTS


"Blood is thicker than water",
but how many of us would wash away
the stain of blood-ties?
Cut the umbilicals which connect
like family lace?
Unpick the knots that ruin
the family tension?

Gathering of the Clan -
"because we have to":
air-kissed greetings,
heavy handshakes;
intimate enquiries -
a cousin's failed marriage;
Grandmother's bowels.

But, breathing again shared air,
red corpuscles pulse,
circulation increases.
Sap rises, strengthening the life
of the family tree:
Somehow we are organic.

Not the blood, but the sweat
makes me weep:
drops on the brows of our men;
the warm flush on the faces
of our women that speaks
of the labour that has kept us,
generation upon generation,
adhering to a bond called "Family".

The blood, sweat and tears
of our family Name
courses my veins,
makes me feel weak
and then strong...

The pain of belonging.