Three Sisters

Sisters like Cerberus, one in three

we knew them as they were before

their early years bathed in the majesty

and light of love once shared full between

but from life’s troubles they would not be spared

division and envy leave them wholly ensnared

they embark on a journey arduous and long

uncovering the truth of their ruptured bond

family secrets amount to bitter years

unravelling dark moments, a difficult feat

Sarita the eldest her mother’s child

her wit and her charm would always beguile

Thelma, the sage silent and all-knowing

her gaze was her sword, her countenance exposing

and Aisha who led heart-first, not her head

a serum of truth in each sentence she said

together, their youthful melody bright

as children they sang to their mother’s delight

possessing character singular to each one

no single star seeking to be the sun

their mother, their champion through and through

a parent first, but their manager too

the young ladies were talent, their mother ambition

the marriage of the two brought their dreams to fruition

as the music piles up and young girls become women

the cracks start to form, the first signs of divisiontheir mother can’t help but to criticize

“Aisha dear you’ve gone up a dress size…

could you tone it down, could you eat a bit less?

You need to look like your sisters in that dress.”

“Thelma, did you notice you missed that note?

Let Sarita take the lead darling, rest your throat”

as their values of old fade in the background

the sisterhood flails, the tensions abound

and when the emotional well had run dry

the love left threadbare the light left to die

the group of three would be no more

the music machine drives on, Sarita its core

the manager/mother could not sustain

ambition the monster, its victims claimed

and Aisha and Thelma are left quite undone

their careers unravelled, their sister the sun

her mother’s daughter she continued apace

the years bestowed yet more beauty, more grace

to their mother however the years were not kind

Sarita outgrew her in the fullness of time

an insatiable woman, she finally fell

a tax evasion charge - her career’s death knell

twenty years Sarita forged her own path

through her strength of conviction to relinquish the past

but over the years she saw less of her sistersthe gulf between them an emotional cistern

she envied the fullness of life they led

with their children, their dogs, their partners, their friends

she felt a victim just the same

of an industry where it seemed she was chained

her sisters felt unloved at best

they had taken a back seat at their mothers’ behest

while Sarita’s career went from strength to strength

their sense of injustice was grave and immense

yet while their mother was unwell and ailing

it was Aisha and Thelma who, love prevailing

looked after their mother and kept her strong

until death beckoned her to the great beyond

in those moments, Sarita stayed away, but

her mother’s words she would often replay

‘our day to day lives are dull as can be

your role, my dear, is to provide fantasy’

so she refused to give in to the truth of emotion

paying very few visits, no bold expressions of devotion

preferring to act out the fantasy

lest the public, her fans, even her sisters see

that she was a single strand alone

a sailing ship, destination unknown

three sisters standing on separate sides

neither desiring to prod or to chidebut each longing for words their mother once choked

to bring clarity where they see no hope