A Family Picture Of Fools...... Poem by RIC BASTASA

a family picture
suggests perfection

mother beside father
between them
a son and daughter

another picture has
grandpa holding his cane
sort of scepter as
grandma holds a bouquet
of roses
her lifetime

one who sees it says
what a happy family
just perfect just perfect

i tell you it is not
exactly true, not really

what was behind the house
behind that picture
behind those smiles?

dead rats smell like dead rats
behind the house
behind those smiles are
concealed misfortunes

you just don't know
you were not there when all
those bad things happened

for the family still sticks
to that tradition not to display
dirty linens on the road
to warn all those servants
to keep silent, what you see here
what you hear here, leave it here.

a family picture does not say it all.
to inspire you, if not to make you
more miserable with what you are.

yes, it is true.
the farther the pasture,
the greener it appears.

mend the fences. keep the good things.
love the pretentious. smile.