To Call Themselves Content With What They Had Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

TO CALL THEMSELVES CONTENT WITH WHAT THEY HAD

the sorrows of less famous relatives
a film fest from a dream
was not well received
proving every dream has imperfections
the one sister with one two many freckles
or with an overbite
not destined for the broadway lights
the eccentric uncle with the cherry suspenders
off on benders
well who's to say they are wrong or right
or would have been
filled with delight
to call themselves content with what they had
to be shadow rather than sun
last in line
at Oscar time
who thinks about them much
they pall.
the less than kin
of the have it all.
mary angela douglas 29 september 2023