Forsooth

By the Coffee Table

The familiar side table
Bearing glass framed photographs
Root identifiers, delineating
Source and well spring
Of present company.

The mother sweet, demure, diminutive,
Chiselled elegance, undiminished with age,
The daddy so  dimpled yet majestic
Cross between Don Juan and sage

Two doe eyed sloe eyed brothers
Searing  smouldering intensity
Crackling through the frames of time
Broad shoulders and tapered torsos
Their noses,
ever so slightly aquiline.

Like twin pillars of familial gate ways,
Daddy the mighty arch,
Or they, the mighty muscled thighs
Of Colossus,
Daddy the proud head leonine,
Mummy, steadfastness sheltered
the beating heart  inside.

And then the wedding pictures
Loveliness protected, coy and shy
Graceful gazelle ready to tie the knot
Affections bondage,
Brings forth my sighs.

The groom handsome fella
Complacency sitting comfortably on his shoulders broad
The lucky guy, who got acceptance
From Father's pride and joy
The prized suitor,Prince Charming
With golden ring,
A really suitable boy.

And eyes fell in perfect harmony
On the baby photos,
In the bottom right corner's
Sweet spot...
The cornerstone of marital lore
The inevitable essential afterthought.

Baby was a bright cherubim
All rosy cheeked with love
Her doll's lashes guarding
Precocious flash of eyes
Open and trustful
Ready for her due
Adoration.
A picture perfect life.

I was no fortune teller.
But upon the coffee table
I saw bliss
A speaking tableau
Of harmony Wed
To Serendipity's kiss.

Not all families are alike.
And no two are same.
Photographs release details.
Pictures are tell tale.

Smiling my veil
Of smoky confusion
I spoke under my breath,
And so,
they lived, forsooth...

Happily ever after.
For some,
Fairytales are truth.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017