Moving House

There once was a very old house

Of 3000 feet squared

A sweet little yard and a mighty big tree

That reached the clouds, the children said

Since they climbed that tree many a time

Over the fifteen year span we lived there.

The family grew and expanded to ten,

All fitting neatly on the property.

But when the time came to move house,

Only one person remained, and that was me.

The detritus of the other nine was somehow now mine

To disperse from this house without adequate help

Or resources or even the grace of god.

In addition to that, one unhelpful person lingered,

My schizophrenic brother, in a trailer out back.

I let him stay for a few months, despite the drugs

As long as he followed the rules.  And he did.

Mostly.

He broke my car he stole my doll he broke the door down

He broke my heart and my landlord’s mind

When he refused to leave, despite every threat.

It seems I had not cleared out all the detritus I’d been left.

And though I have no power over my brother,

I have been ordered to power him out.

If I cannot, the cops will be called, to deal with

A mentally ill drug abuser.  It won’t go well.

Damn it all to Hell.

I still remember him when he was small