The Picture - Megan Kiffiak

When I took the picture of my parents,

I thought everything was fine.

We were happy and we were a family.

I guess I was wrong.

A year later they got divorced.

A family full of love,

Separated into two groups of sadness.

My parents each found love again,

But the children they had together, never would.

They’d struggle with commitment, school, and drugs

Not knowing where they fit in the world or how they are supposed to live.

One child found his way out of the nest,

The other one felt like she was pushed.

Ready to leave a painful childhood,

But not ready to enter a painful adulthood.

No amount of conversations with mom or dad about boys,

Would prepare her for how one man would change her life.

No parent can prepare their child for a fight,

Between life, death, and despair.

Even when the past seems so perfect

And the future so bright,

Nothing is picture perfect.

Not even life.

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Megan Kiffiak grew up in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She is a student psychologist hoping to work more with people battling addiction and criminality. She has a fat little dog named Queenie, and loves Fall.