Out and In

I’m the flower pinned to a party wall
I’m the violet that always shrinks
I’m hardly the life of anything
It’s a bit of a family trait

My mother began to stay home more
And keep my father there
He’d been an extrovert until
Their marriage knot grew tighter

What started out as cocktail hours
Alone at home with us
Turned into more like cocktail nights
And hours of TV shows

I noticed how their habits changed
And wondered as I aged
Why was it that my habit
Began where theirs would end

I’ve never liked to party
Prefer to stay at home
My parents at least had their mixing days
Mine always were this distant way