AN OLD MAN'S LEGACY

The tearing apart of a family after the death of the patriarch.

         OLD MAN'S LEGACY

They sit around the kitchen table
in the old man's farmhouse;
tongues honed to blue-steel sharpness
drawn in preparation for a fight.

The old man had died
simple will marks his passing.
His children wait to split his life.

Worn out car, crumbling house,
meager personal belongings.
Yet family stands ready
to garner their share.

Years will pass with grumbles
brothers, sisters never speaking.
Sadness, the legacy left
at the old man's passing.