The Beginning Poem by Amber Piercy

The Beginning

Butterfly wings beat against the window pane
Only silence follows the sound of the rain
Outside is dark and damp
The only light comes from an old lamp
Dad reads the evening paper on nights like this
Moms stops her knitting and gives dad a kiss
The same simple routine comforts me
But the rain turns the silence to agony
There is something that mom doesn't want dad to know
If words could turn into vines up the wall they would go
The tension hangs like tar on an old tin roof
The air in the room smells like stale truth
I almost thought of breaking open the silence
But the silent air makes my soul wince
My eyes quickly dart to dad in his old chair
Looking calm as usual without a care
He softly chuckles as he reads the comics
I can hear the clock in the hall as it ticks
Minutes pass by and I turned my gaze to momma
She smiled at me with the slightest comma
I looked at her with wondering eyes
And she shocked me with the sweetest surprise
For in that very moment my heart flutters
Momma looked at me and my mouth stutters
She said soon you will become a sister Sara Ann
And that's how the saga began

A.D. Small
December 5,2021