Family Pride - by Thiloshnie Naidoo

Family Pride
If family pride is the root
Then why does it choke the seed it breathes
If family pride is the harbor
Then why are the ships anchored for dread
If family pride is the story
Then why are the pages misread
If family pride is the mirror
Then why are the faces stone, cold red with fear
If family pride is the table
Then why are the legs not carved in sturdiness that stays in place
If family pride is the covenant
Then why is there no wax found in the seal
If family pride is the garden
Then why is there no abundance or growth
If family pride is the legacy
Then why does it not build the ordinary into extraordinary
If family pride is the recipe
Then why is the main ingredient baked in demise

So tell me now, if pride has to demand
A mask that honesty can’t reprimand—
what good is a house, what good is a name, what good is a bloodstream

if pride becomes the only water for the flower to bloom
let’s make shame the soil for love to wither.