Straightway - it's the tone. <br />Even; quiet but clear; is it writing, or is it talking? <br />As if to family: you're being filled in <br />on what happened yesterday or last week; <br />it's a continuation of what you last spoke of; <br />so no 'tone' about the tone; <br />you have a background of a lifetime's love <br />not to need to talk about; <br />you're friends even before you are family <br />if you know what I mean; <br />no family relationships hovering like ghosts <br />like your mother never quite stopped <br />sibling squabbling with your aunt; <br />it's harmless really - a silly evocation of childhood <br />and no-one else's concern; <br />so, good. <br /> <br />The no-tone tone: you're family, <br />so the voice expects you to be interested <br />enough to read <br />even if it's something to tell another family member later <br />whom it would concern more. <br /> <br />So no elaborations, <br />no false sentiment, <br />but a little dry comment <br />like a dry white wine perhaps, <br />they'll have the background for <br />because you're family. <br /> <br />That even tone - dull? No, not dull - <br />a quirky, individual voice <br />that tells a story deadpan <br />that makes you howl with laughter; <br />no, never dull.. <br /> <br />The details: those events, <br />those small happinesses, small sweetnesses <br />(it sounds better in French - <br />petits bonheurs, petites douceurs) , <br />the spoken words from open heart to open heart <br />which are the greatness of our <br />real, real life; <br />what's in the tidy drawers of the heart <br />when the house-clearers finally arrive. <br /> <br /> <br />And all around this family message to you who read, <br />called a poem, <br /> <br />quietly, <br /> <br />love.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/homage-to-a-not-unknown-poet/
