Oh Family unto Stars

image by Klau2018

Oh brethren oh sistren,
all you Gone-befores,
why have you left me here?

Jeannie, tell me about the After.
Come over for a dream,
we’ll smoke a j and polish our nails.
Ceilie, oh my quick sister,
I wish you’d come by
and make one of your straight-face jokes,
Rosemary, I miss your sureness,
your pesto pasta,
your so capable hands.

Penny, still I miss you, and
I never got to see what kind
of old lady you’d have made.
Pauly, so close in age
and our faces almost the same,
I want to find out who you were.
Bill, a long time back
you were my safe place. At last
I’ve allowed myself to miss you.

Oh sistren, oh brethren
oh family unto stars,
I am solo and small,
but I empty into everything.
I pour out as you do,
finally understanding that
holding back any drop of who I am
only shrinks
the bigger thing we are.

Oh brethren, oh sistren
I begin to see,
we’re all still in it together!

©Susa Silvermarie 2026