Researching the Madness
The lines go back far they do
lines drawn on a map
from somewhere in Pennsylvania
via Antwerp and Brussels
The little girl grew into an iron-fisted
Matriarch who rang the bell at five
to feed her boys the holiest of bread
while reciting hymnals of fear and guilt
Her shepherdless husband
followed her trail to Illinois
to a sleepy town her brother first discovered
years before boarding SS Vaderland
It was there tempers raged within
from the ethnically charged populous
but she managed self-restraint
and seldom raised her hand
against her own Motherland
But for her brother the chains broke
and wickedness unleashed itself
on Christmas Day
as the quietness of the neighborhood
exploded with a single shot of insanity
That dying branch still hangs crooked
on the corner of Rose and Lexington
its venomous DNA lingering
inside a sleepy little child
february two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
Strangely close to home. Or possibly not. Possibly just the mark of beautifully evocative poetry.
hard to say, but i wouldn’t be surprised about anything being close to home. thank you so much for visiting here.
when i grow up i want to write like you ;D
Thank you, Bonnie, but don’t fool yourself. Your writing is wonderful.
dark, intriguing…
Thank you, Evelyn
Chilling! I do like the dark stuff
thank you…i spent two years researching my family’s genealogy, it’s quite exhausting work.
That’s really interesting, and a brave task to undertake! I know the history of my family on my Mother’s side, never researched my stepVader but sometimes I wonder about ‘venomous dna’ in the form of learned behaviours/environment etc? Your poetry always leaves me with questions. ..Amazing!
Powerful!
thank you so much, Jan – both for visiting and commenting on this piece
Wow – quite the strong visuals and an astonishing story – very cool – K
when looking back you never know what you’ll find – thank you Kathleen