one mom and
one dad, one
set of parents is
how it should be.
one mom and
one dad, then one son,
and one daughter is
what should be born.
one mom and
one dad, one son and
one daughter, one family
of four is supposedly
“complete”.
but one
mold is not enough,
to fit the rest, the rest
of us, who feel like
our families are just
a complete mess.
more or less,
the number below
or above, four, is
what the rest of us
fall under.
a family of four
seems too distant
for me to relate to, and
it does not know what
it’s like to have,
two jobs to work, three
mouths to feed, four
months to catch up
on rent, and one
parent is all she has.
or what about
the one who has,
no parent at all? he is
only one by himself,
and he doesn’t know
how long he can last
as a kid, before he turns
into his own parent.
a family of four
has not seen the
five siblings, down
the block, with
one grandma and
two aunties who serve
as their stand-in parent(s).
nor has it seen
me, an only child
with one mom, and
one dad, but no brother,
and for that, i have always
felt like i was incomplete.
so, one mom and
one dad, one son and
one daughter, one family
of four is not how
it should be.
because, how can we
expect one mold to ever
be enough?
for the rest, the rest
of us who aren’t packaged in four?
because one mold can
never be enough, not when
the family we have experienced
has always been determined
by who we make up of it.
