I remember calm nights at home,
with pleasant conversation about
work, school, how the day went,
the laughter and good cheer,
very much a mirror of TV
families at that time.
I remember when that ended,
nights at the dinner table turned silent,
tears and anger injected in small doses,
how unbearable it was to sit very long,
wanting to get up and get out,
do the dishes and disappear,
awaiting the explosion that would come
long before we’d head for bed
to sleep, if any of us could,
wondering when the crying would end.
The early days of peace and quiet were good ones,
and the stories I read, the TV shows and movies
I watched have stayed with me, are with me now,
even if it’s impossible to recall them at all.
And everything I read and saw after those early days,
I recollect easily but don’t remember them well.
Lanning Lee 