Entangled

By u/Pascals-wager

Malaysia  Literary Work

Without giving too much away because poetry is meant to be interpreted by the reader, my poem highlights the theme of family. I think in 2020, most people were forced to stay indoors and quarantine with their family. While additional family time can be a blessing for some, it is also a catalyst for family conflicts especially with the additional stressors brought by the pandemic. My poem attempts to capture this lived experience in which family dynamics (d)evolve for better or worse.

My therapist once told me
that family members are linked to each other
as though they have the same string
tied around them.
When one pulls, the others follow.
So, every time he raises his voice,
she takes one step forward.
That one time he raised his hand,
she took three.
And we took three steps with her.


Every time she hides behind us,
we take one step back.
That one time she pushed us towards him,
and he pushed us back,
the strings got tangled
and caught us in between.
That day he left us,
he pulled us so hard,
that we tripped and fell.
We stood back up of course,
and pulled what’s left of us together.


So perhaps family members are indeed
connected by a string.
A string that can either be the lifeline
that catches you when you fall,
or the knot that you willingly fall into
when the string seems impossible to untangle.

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