united in fear

They always fought

Or rather my mother always did

And my father was the silent martyr

Maybe he was scared

Maybe he didn’t have it in him

Maybe he didn’t know how

Sometimes he would say

Other people are happy

She ruled us all

With myopia, fear psychoses, blackmail

We were a family united in fear

Our divinity was the despot

Fifty-eight years later

Her iron fist hasn’t slackened

And he grovels more

As his Parkinson-addled brain fuels his dependency

She says I will go first

And see what happens to you

He is now too scared to live, too scared to die

They remain united in fear