Poem - Today

Today



‘How are you today?’ asks the young lady,

Mary is her name, I think… maybe.

She sits there all in white, 

Her sad face disguised with delight.



Four strapping men walk in,

And ask me how I have been.

They stare at me with a face like my own.

If I had a brother surely I would have known?



My body is overcome by this sudden shiver

I see my daughter sitting next to me, her lips begin to quiver.

My sons stare at me slumped, faces filled with guilt and pity

And wonder if this is the inevitability.