Family Poems | Poemist

Popular Family Poems

Father Son And Holy Ghost

by Audre Lorde

I have not ever seen my father's grave.

Not that his judgment eyes
have been forgotten
nor his great hands' print
on our evening doorknobs
one half turn each night
and he would come
drabbled with the world's business
massive and silent

......

The Duel

by Eugene Field

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'T was half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

......

More Than Just a Daughter-In-Law

by Julia Shaw

I have two daughters, of which I'm in awe,
One is by birth and the other by law.
Once I've known 46 years more,
The other I've known only five times four.
When I first met her, I never foresaw,
That she would become more than just my daughter-in-law.

When my son became a man of twenty-two years,
He sought for a woman that would stand through tears.
He had no time for the shallow and suspect.

......

Nature Trail

by Benjamin Zephaniah

At the bottom of my garden
There's a hedgehog and a frog
And a lot of creepy-crawlies
Living underneath a log,
There's a baby daddy long legs
And an easy-going snail
And a family of woodlice,
All are on my nature trail.

There are caterpillars waiting

......

We Refugees

by Benjamin Zephaniah

I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.

I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.

......

Recent Family Poems

Het geslacht Odekerken

by Mario Odekerken

Ze kwamen met de tijd,
lang voor mijn naam bestond.
Mannen en vrouwen
geworteldin het zachte land
waar de heuvels zwijgend toekeken.

Zuid-Limburg,
waar mist tussen boomgaarden hangt
en de aarde herinneringen vasthoudt
alsof ze weet

......

Blues and Greens

by C Duggan

The sun falls,
And night begins,
Blue irises enthrall,
The eyes of my kin.
I never shared that ocean,
I was always miles behind,
always reachin',
never could unwind.
My eyes of grass,
On a summer's day,

......

A Plea for Peace

by Yasmeen Kamel

The sky is weeping, a silent cry,
As I watch the world pass me by,

Sitting alone in the dead of the night,
I hold my pen and start to write,

Trying to express how I feel,
Hoping that time would make things heal,

In my emotions I am drowned,

......

Poison in my Veins

by Kimani Hare

Your pretension exhausts me
With your absurd actions superseding your illogical thoughts
Fallacies fiddling your holier than thou

Yet I remain loathsomely chained
Familial blood eradicating the spirit

If blood is thicker than water
Then let Tylenol dilute me and be my keeper

......

Where I'm from

by Kimani Hare

I am from the kindness of the “oh so talkative” Scott family

And the hard work born from the “ever-stubborn” Hare’s

From traffic-ridden highways and serene rushing rivers

To classes where I was one in two to one and fifteen

Where folks packed the morning streets to break from spaghetti junctions and impending traffic jams

......