The Family That Was... Filipino Style Poem by Kay Barcelon

I come home from school and do my homework
Before dark I watch my mom prepare for supper
Wait for the other sibling to get home from work
Around six one by one they come home to gather

Lively we all sit together around the feast table
Talking laughing and tell stories while we eat
Vote which game we would play after dinner
Scrabble or Chess but Bingo wins as the favorite

I always start out with the most number of coins
The youngest of six I am usually the slowest to call
I never worry because my father will be home soon
He always empties his pocket and put it in my bowl

Sometimes the girls would fix dessert or evening snack
Eating in front of the TV together we stay up and watch
And when the basketball is on I would cry the whole time
Not because the soap is on but I like and enjoy the attention

In a big house a big family is happy until we moved apart
To have our own but we never forget what family is about
Now that we are miles away and mom and dad are gone
Once in a while I come home to give them a bad time! ! !