Home again

Home again—seems like I left years ago
Couldn’t be though, everything is still the same
The egos and eccentricities all rush to greet me at the door
Of the living room of course; their comfort is crucial

Everything I’ve turned a tone-deaf ear to
Is now playing a sharp contralto with a tambourine background
A “welcome home” banner tacked across the rear wall
A backdrop to misery and all of its now-awake bedfellows

Yet, I haven’t gone on any great journey
Only fulfilling my mundane time obligations at work and such
There was no great vanishing act
At times like this, I start to fear that there never will be

Postponements, hardships, inexcusable
Accusations hurled contemptuously from rocking chairs
Their endless back and forth motions
Only too symbolic of the allegations themselves

Stone-faced indifference meets my explanations
Postponements!
Bland disappointment invalidates my reasons
Hardships!

Excuses are all I have left
But I deny their use on my own principals
My actions are justified in my own mind
Any attempt at excusing them away would only detract from my choices

Twisting and turning, the exchange winds itself into an intricate knot
Which implodes from the irrational logic that was keeping it semi-cohesive
Leaving the ripples of familial shockwaves to crash upon members
Because in my house, each person is their own island