Parting Words: “Family Portrait”

Illustration by Tori Hong

rejoice rejoice rejoin
new to you sibling
new to you dress

what does it mean
to remove acres
to open and move back
farther than you were
once born

regress regress regression
drips down the back of your
hand to root and rustle
up some sweet
music song singing

and when the beat drops repeat after
me while we holler and dance about with
jimmy and lorraine allow me me reintroduce
a self

you are a friend
you are enough
you help create
great stillness in me

my family is a spur spun
tight air pockets a plot

we claim each other just
as the days get longer stay
make the place feel like home
like heaven a spot of giants a garden
with records turning and amazon
time revealing a string of light

the winter eats the sirloin off the knife
without a blink the knife is a ritual
with other plants a kin
winter kilns violently