it's odd
when the tyrant i knew
becomes the little girl
with her nose
in a book

and the
life force of my
family becomes
the absent one
trying to restart
a living

my little brother
once the outcast
of the school
now the center of
attention and loved
by all

and my sister
who used to curse
my existence
approaches me timidly
at midnight
without a hint
of malice

my sweet dog is broken
in a corner
living the last of
her days

my grandfather
paces his house
cursing the world
that moved on
without him

my grandmother
wastes away
wishing for the life
she cast aside
in hopes of love

one set of cousins
blessed with
intangible riches
an illusion among
the elites
to look down
on the rest of our souls

the other set trapped
in a house
made of stone
cut off from the world
never to understand why
the world is
the way it is

and finally emily
artistic and reckless
gets caught in
a landslide of
a fight for her own
futile freedom

and then me
with my obstinate obsession
of plucking the stars
right out of
the sky
and crying
when i realize
they aren't mine to take

and i take all this
to the boy
with a heart of gold
but a house of stone
and ask him
"do you think us mad?"

and he replies with "yes,"
"but if you are all crazy
then what the hell would mine be?
would you rather exchange madness
for cruelty,
and understand what it's like
to walk in my shoes instead?"

and perhaps he was right
because although my family
may be mad,
at least we love
and love fully
a love i wish
he had for himself 
to understand