Verbatim

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 i...

Maybe number five or number six I believe that's which one I am Out of all of your kids Kinda hard to keep track to be honest Met another one last August And that part wasn't even the hardest Because you abandoned her too Left us to grow in the dying carcass That should have been a relationship with you It was weird missing a stranger Because every time you'd try to meet up, Something always had to come up Still I begged my mom to wait just a little bit longer.. All I wanted was a father Always wondered how you could deny me as your daughter Was it easy? Born into this feeling of inadequacy Because you didn't want me Maybe you just felt guilty Or maybe you just forgot about me So rejection became the normalcy Well acquainted myself with my own mortality Over that longing for duality I suppose I never got enough vitamin D And M seemed to be just a little too busy So I supplemented those spaces With the faces of other men Always loved my step...

I love you, my beautiful boy.. always so curious, so adventurous, and so compassionate! You are an absolute joy to everyone you meet. Mama and Daddy are so proud! ▪ Ares is becoming quite the little dancer and xylophone player! I'm ecstatic to see his love of music developing so early! ❤ ▪ He watched (and paid attention to) his first Disney movie, Moana! He recognizes the songs when we play them for him now. ▪ He is standing strong and beginning to take little steps on his own! He even gains quite a bit of speed when we give him our hands for support. ▪ He is holding his own toothbrush and trying to copy us as we brush our teeth together! Also, he has been trying to feed himself now (very messily lol). I am just so impressed by his dexterity for his age. We've reached lots of milestones this month... there seem to be more and more every month as they are flying by! Now enjoy some photos from Arthur's first road trip to California for Tito Quito's b...