Second Family Portrait

My life started slow

In a town of idle minds

Where daydreams filled the space

Between our simple dramas

And my mom was strange

But she'd always liked to sew

And my clothes smelled like

The room I was born in

And my dad calm

Never used two words when one'd do

And my brother's hands were mischief bent

With no will to stop 'em

And on the whole

We lived simply and day-to-day

Our fears were trivial

They always died with every sunset

When I was twelve

My affliction came to light

And I was told that some things I heard

Were only there in my head

But I couldn't tell

Which were real and which were now

And the question loomed over all I did

Whether I could trust it

And I guess over time

It became too much

And I was sent away

At my mom's behest

'cause she'd grown to fear me

Now I live up north

In the house for the broken heads

And my father comes and visits me

Whenever he can afford it

Sometimes at night

When the voices quiet down

I find I hope that I am missed

And that they haven't forgot me