No longer here the blaze that we'd engender <br />Out of Pure wrath. We pick at quarrels now <br />As fussy women stitch cotton, slow <br />Now to forget and too far to surrender. <br />The anger stops, apologies also. <br /> <br />And in this end of summer, weighted calm <br />(climate of mind, I mean) , we are apart <br />Further than ever when we wished most harm. <br />Indifference lays a cold hand on the heart; <br />We need the violence to keep us warm. <br /> <br />Have we then learnt at last how to untie <br />The bonds of birth, umbilical long cord, <br />So that we live quite unconnected by <br />The blood we share? What monstrous kind of sword <br />Can sever veins and still we do not die?<br /><br />Elizabeth Jennings<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/family-affairs-2/
