Kumain Ka Na Ba

A table for four set for seven people
Leaving vacancies
Like empty pews under broken steeples
With not enough seats for us to sit and eat
We abandon these spaces and sit in front of the TV

While Mom is still cleaning
I save her a plate
And I promise to say grace
Without actually believing
That He was the one to bring us this food
Instead of her and my step dad working a full-time job or two
Just to feed all these kids and their best friends too
Thinking God is the one to hold us together like glue
But that glue is messy and doesn't always stick
And instead peels away several layers of dead skin
Revealing the fractures of our faults and sins

I think to myself I'll never be worth shit
Never live up to the kind heart she thought I was born with
Now deteriorated by years of bitter resentment
I look them in their eyes and I see disappointment
I offer my help to clean up a bit
She reassures me she's got it

Sweat dripping from her brow
I wonder what stress is on her mind now
That she covers with a welcoming smile,
With a house full of snacks for any turned away child..
Extended families like to judge this lifestyle
But I found that it's futile
To live like them in religious denial
Better to stay in my family ties strapped
Through every stepped upon sidewalk crack
Cause I know these siblings of mine have my back
Remembering that it's our mother who taught us that

We might have close to nothing
But we are rich in these teachings
Always reaching for each other's hands
To pull away from the beseeching man
Telling us what we can't or what we can
'Cause we are birds of a feather
And though we might not always eat together
I know in my heart that's how we stand

- @rs.darko