There has been a silent violence kindling in my family tree for years,
decaying its leaves leaving a lineage of don’t tells.
Unfolding secrets that are too heavy for tongues
but they insist on being quite,
Afraid at the possibility of speaking things into existence
sight lines visible to invisible illnesses,
in my family no one talks about the obvious.
I try to convenience them that silence will not rid you of the
responsibility Of life or living.
