My Family as a Patchwork Quilt


My family is a patchwork quilt.

Pieces of age
and youth,
and seasons (of engagements and winters and babies),
of lives,
of hand-me-down overalls and personalities,
carefully stored in the oak chest.

Together, we map
and hold the scraps.
Stories and history all tied together.
Friends join in with spare thread.
Colours clash,
Smiles crack,
and finally
it is a defender--
the armor of movie nights
the tent of the young
the greeter of visitors
the spouse of nervous nights.

My family is a patchwork quilt.

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