The Family Tree, a poem by Dilip Mohapatra at Spillwords.com
Brandon Green

The Family Tree

The Family Tree

written by: Dilip Mohapatra

@dilipmo

 

One day I sit down
to construct my family tree
and see it grow
bit by bit
as the pieces in the puzzle
are put together
some drawn from history
some from memory
and some from the
existing galaxy.

And then I look
at my creation
with awe and wonder
and try to gather
and encapsulate
the fading echoes
through its branches
through its limbs
which sometimes decree
and sometimes denounce
and slowly discover
the shadows of betrayal
both in the past
and in the present.

And then I hone my axe
and build the courage
to prune the tree
and hack off few branches
both live and dead…
I don’t mind
if the family tree is altered
and denuded
as long as
the root remembers
and proclaims its sanity
cleansing and rewriting its history
devoid of the black spots
and the blood stains
and leaves behind
its silent legacy…

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