Portrait
by Chaun Ballard
\ˈpor-trət\
n. a pictorial representation of a person (or family) usually showing the face
What is it that makes a family
spherical
in the blue marble assurances
one collects from bags long forgotten
in corner basements?
Is it the man who rounds himself like an interstate
who promises
never to leave you, your mother, three brothers, and a sister with child
behind?
Is it the one-eyed window of a house
he came back to roost
and rustle his feathers ’til the old hen
finally girded up enough angst to take flight
only to discover she had no wind, no wings, and no song?
What makes a father spherical?
In the knowing
and knowing he unknowingly creates into shards
of family
he leaves behind as children
left to prick
their fingers at memories
swept into piles until we halfway resemble a mosaic