' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' Meet The Relatives Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Childishly
I clutch

at my big sister's
skirt

shyly staring
from behind its pleats

(pink acrylic)

sucking my thumb
clinging to her finger

not trusting
the nearness

of the strangers
who claim to be

my cousins
not shy at all & wanting to play ball

a dreadful cheerful free-for-all

but I stay here
arms locked

around
my sister's knee

protected by her
presence & her

fingertips stroking
gently my hair.