They would spread lies, <br />On my sisters and I. <br />And they were relatives. <br />Preparing us very early... <br />How vindictive folks can be! <br />Regardless of bloodlines! <br />Or professed thickness of clans, <br />With underhanded jealousies unraveling <br />Any hint of closeness between members! <br />Just as long as they received some attention, <br />To merit a lack of consciousness displayed <br />By ignorance paraded around, <br />With applied unfounded accusations! <br />And being used as the fools they are as tools... <br />To diminish concepts of family! <br />But they had no idea... <br />If it was not for my mother, <br />Who protected us with her own fears... <br />We would not know that concept at all! <br />Her tears would fall to make me bitter... <br />To discover their origin!<br /><br />Lawrence S. Pertillar<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-it-was-not-for-my-mother/
