Family

Some are tightly lashed
And tethered together
Like the fate of
Astronauts depends on it

To spacewalk

Or sailors in the Bering
Sea need to survive
Heavy thrashing and make
It out on top

Like every situation
Is a new culture

And every crew a family
Dealing with the
“Thick and thin”
Because blood runs deep

And each culture is
More viscous than the last

Some thick like syrup
And flooding like molassas
Some thin like water
Going with the motions

Family means
Any number of things
And blood among friends
Can be one of them

It can be worth dirt
Or 10k
Dependent on nothing
Or totally at whim

You breathe,
Eat with,
Confide in
Family

Those who will support
You
Through that thick
And thin

Who will tether you
To the space shuttle
As you walk among
And reach for stars

It’s a world unlike
Any other
Filled with its own
Tension and relief

It’s when you reach
A place
Where you’re among
Those who belong

Together and
Meaning more than
The ties that bind
From the beginning