Heredity
       

Nobody told the stories as they happened:
every blood dance, panic pulling bodies

past the chorus of a prayer. Omitted how
each relative unraveled without re-spool.

Alone I've traced the wires inside walls
out through the fields, found a lunatic

substation. Found Uncle smashing taillights, Grandma
traipsing through ERs. Learned what current

frenzies blood. Nobody told me knowing
would do little—I'd still end up a house, falling.

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Copyright © 2022 CD Eskilson All rights reserved
from Beloit Poetry Journal
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission