Fragile Things

"Don't step on the glass," mother said
Like the rusted sky was falling
Or papa was dying again.
Things are always breaking

Like waves on a rocky shore. We never get a break from the tears.
Mother's always crying
And even though I've gathered sandbags for years
I still feel the water rising.

Papa said there was a god,
He said I should believe. "Mercy on us," he whispered.
Then he was gone, to rot,
In the ground. Mother was left to wither,

Like a white flower on his grave. "Mercy on us," she said,
"The sky is crashing down again."

~Anonymous Princess