Family portrait

If voices had colour,
mumโ€™s would be yellow
for she was mellow
saying hello
at the doorway
chases ma blues awayโ€”
school wasnโ€™t easy
being picked on as measlyย 
yet for me she was there
we had to go nowhere.

If voices had colour,
dadโ€™s would be black
dark, deep, bleeding slack
with a sense of hollow
heโ€™d always wallow
in games after work
and want braised pork
thus well-fed he was
cushioned by his arse
while mum, sheโ€™d pass.