Swear You’ll Never Tell

Most individuals are awful
At holding secrets. That’s the reason
For the moldy feeling at the back

Of the store, forever
Implicit threat to a pretty
Emotion, decrepitude,

The tepid sewer water
Of mere family drama,
The reason real families

May involve screaming and rage
But rarely revelation
Of the kind belovéd by

Good storytellers, cherished
By an enthralled audience.
And if individuals

Are weak, families are worse—
The great family secrets
Always less secret than myth.

It’s the sad look at table
Everyone has of knowing
What everyone and no one

Really ever wants to know
What no one really wants to know,
Sadness without a secret.