so many elbows

Where I’m From

           a poem by Vicki Patschke

I’m from family 

A family of eight

Or eight times eight 

When you counted the heads

Of friends and visitors

And always the pets —

Dogs, cats, rabbits, 

guinea pig, hamster, mice

parakeets, turtles, snails

and one bow-legged duck

Our family of eight

Squeezed into cars

And crowded trains

Shoulder to shoulder

Elbow to elbow

Heart to heart

At happy crowded tables

We passed the potatoes

Helped with homework 

And dealt the cards

Instant friends

Instant foes 

Always racing

To finish first 

To claim the sofa

To claim the last bite

Always sharing 

Hand-me-downs

of used clothes 

of thumb-smeared books

of opinions and advice

Our family of eight

Now grown and scattered

With empty spaces between us

Separated by gaps

of time and place

of experiences

of philosophy

But wherever we turn

We will always be

From our family of eight

Shoulder to shoulder

Elbow to elbow

Heart to heart