on ‘Family Portrait’ by Andrew Sibley
This is what we wished for,
mom, dad, two kids, a dog –
the negative of our family photo –
the one where I peered out,
small, squinting and anxious,
cardigan buttoned over a summer dress
and my brother looked out beyond the frame
his eyes too serious –
while our parents stood behind us,
locked together.
But the portrait is what we wanted, believed:
now looking into the mirror
we compose a wholeness,
the kind you find in flowers.
On the other side, in our night-time knowing,
the fragments splinter like stars,
and tearful hearts
shake in their beds and worry.
We are fragile as the wind,
not solid, nor as we show ourselves,
picket fenced in photos,
nor are we the framed negative,
outlined red and yellow –
rather, we dance and pivot.