Hanging the Dirty Laundry

Father’s ties were mother’s noose
Round he wrapped the cotton, silk
Under through, he pulled them tight
Over the bag, over her head
Mother drugged with sedatives
Boom! Dead!
 
He changed his mind
when mother smiled
He called the cops: Come! Suicide!
She nearly died, father cried
Our hero, all the children cried
My hero, frightened mother lied
 
Bad mother, all the children whined
And turned their backs on suicide
Selfish, greed, the children said
Yes, we wish mother were dead
And each child loved their father more
Or loved her less
 
Marriage was a suicide
that mother finally survived
when father died

From Mobius, a manuscript in progress. First published in Plume.