Familia

The man in the sun lounger 
Has an itch in his nose,
He scratches it, he pulls at it,
Blood starts to squirt, he sits up,
Blood is dripping, dripping, 
Draining under the sand,
Soon the whole beach is vermilion red.
It is sunset.

The woman needs to shit
But nothing happens, she clenches
And pushes but nothing happens,
She thinks of her mother
Slapping her head, her father
Slamming the door,
But nothing happens, days pass,
Months pass, years pass
And then someone pulls a pistol on her.

The boy is always happy,
Smiling always, he has a tail
He wags to and fro,
It flicks to and fro so fast
It flies off, over the trees, 
Like a boomerang 
It whirls back, coils 
Like a long school scarf 
Round his neck 
And throttles him.

The girl has planted poppy seeds
Between her legs,
The red poppies dance inside her eyes,
And then she is sick of them.
She wants herbs instead,
But they dry up - her life is ruined.

Mother, daughter, father, son,
Pet, an ordinary family.
Did I mention the pet?
A large black polished scorpion
Pinned to the kitchen wall
By its feet, one in each corner.