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Family TiesI heard it roll up still soundin' loud n rawthe last time I heard my big brother's Yamahawas when he got into that fight with Paover an ounce of homegrownwell, Dad was a bastard who useta get plasteredand beat him as a kidthe day Dad discovered grass on my brothersomeone was gonna get hitbut my bro took one last whupping that nightthen punched Dad in the gut...hopped on his bikeand never once phoned homethough Pa took the punch I had tears in my eyescos like it or not life's bound together by family tieshe had a doo-rag helmet and a bent-up kickstandI asked him in and shook his trembling handhe grinned and said "I'll be damned"when I grabbed a bag and rolled onehe said, "you were younger so it's no wonderyou were loved more by our folksyou got train sets and go-carts and now you'll prob'ly Bogartthat primo smoke"but I told him I hated Dad as much as he didhadn't seen him in years...then I went to the fridgeand got us each a cold onethough there are things in life we all come to despisewe're just shackled to shadows when they're family tieswe drank our beers...I asked why he fin'lly dropped byhe said Dad was found dead...his hand frozen to a jug of ryewell, we looked at each other and saw the man we hatedbut like brothers love and hate are closely relatedso it hit us both in our guts and tears flooded our eyescos like it not life's bound together by family ties(c)2006 Robert George