Words Of a Feather

Oleanders are gorgeous, coming in all the shades of love

Pure, white love that is complacent, mutual, and beneficial

An era of compassion, trust, and loyalty

Childish, pink love that allows two to embrace their inner humor

Excitement and zest blooming from this flower

Daring, devoted, red love that bonds people through any situation

Red pushes people to do what they need to do for who they love

These colors combine to create the everlasting divinity of the oleander flower’s petals

Yet the petals only serve to hide the poison

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The parents became more difficult to touch, just like the oleander

There were too many fights, too many disagreements

The parents had to rule us wrong and stab us with their Swords

Even with compromise or correction, the parents wouldn’t accept our view

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They would create more excuses to be mad at us

Or at least we thought they would

For they had new rules that were never introduced

These rules were theft and assault

Losing our possessions for minor infractions

As if we have to watch every little step to keep our peace

Yet these excuses would grow more and more valid

As we saw our siblings become more bitter and insistent on their rebellion

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The parents were so used to fighting, they would always blow a fuse

The poison was strongest as they fought over all

Declaring themselves to be superior because of their age

While the child would only listen to themself

The words would slip from beyond the tomb of our lips

And when unable to defend themselves, we lost our valuables

They would strike fear, anger, and worst of all, sadness

Misery after never being listened to

So then, we decided not to listen

If controversy is excepted, then that is what will be given

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Rules are meant to be broken, so our siblings broke them

If they refused to listen to us, we didn’t have to listen to them

Staying up late, sneaking out, dating

Such “misdeeds” were all that controlled my mind

And of course, the flames would burn stronger between us

Strong enough to burn someone after another infraction

Burning the innocents watching from afar, hoping not to get involved

Such as I

But everyone stopped caring a while ago, back after the hundredth conflict

The parents would shout louder than a thousand mountains could echo back

The parents would insult and discredit, never expecting something good

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Nothing was ever enough

Not a day went without despair to ruin the peace of the home

These conflicts would consume our lives until

The colors of the oleander’s petals meant nothing

Only the poison could be sensed

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What happened to us?

These parents used to be the foundation of our morale

Our confidence

Our spirit

Our kindness

And it all fell down, back to from once it came

Those joyful memories were incinerated as we opened our eyes

This is who our parents really are, and nothing can change that

Were the parents always so vile, and they were merely biding their time until they could attack?

Did we do something to hurt them?

Did the weight of the world get to them?

Some may believe that they were born rotten, yet we never look into the mirror

And we can never fully blame them no matter what

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Another day changed what we used to see

After returning from school, another fight broke out

It’s hard to recall what it was about, instead, we can only recall that it was difficult

But that’s what the parents deserve

Such words were eaten quickly after the fight

As we went upstairs, we saw our parents in the living room

We saw something so unexpected, so extraordinary, so amazing

Something that never changed them, but us

It was a tear.

A single

Tear.

Not from us, but from their work

Not enough money was coming in

They didn’t understand what could be done and did all they could

It was that day, I discovered the humanity of these demons

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For no matter how dangerous, the oleander is still a flower