I am going to
begin this poem
by saying that if you
dare say I come from a
dysfunctional family
because the man I
& a sister & a brother
called the man who
raised us Dad
was not our
biological father
or that if you dare
call him my stepfather
or my youngest brother
sired by this man who
fathered him with
our Mother my
half brother
you are not only
skating on very thin ice
you do not know what
true love is
& I feel sorrow for you
I learned what true love
is when he told me a story
after Mom died, his wife
for 58 years & the Mother
of four children
of which only one
came from his loins
& such a simple story
that begins with him
telling me that when
he finally proposed
to Mom she asked,
"what took you so long?"
& his answer was honest
he said, "because there
was three other people
I had to be sure I could love
as much as I love you, Mary."
those three people being
me, my sister & brother
all sired by another man
& that is true love.
