When and Where

a poem by Jagganathan V

When mothers were protective as soft feathers,
When fathers we think kept us in fetters,
And where sisters turned out to be painful blisters,
Where every brother big or small became a big bother,
Where uncles many, ever-trustworthy any?
Where aunties boast and took you for a toast,
Where wives were really sharp as knives,
Where husbands were always a bunch of suspense,
Where your children you thought, many cruel lessons you were taught,
Where your dear friends took you to only hairpin bends;
Where else to go? Never do you really know;
But remember when those feathers behind, you could always fly very high,
But never above those dangerous limit, as fetters around, but why then do you sigh?