(Being the backstory of an extremely dysfunctional family from a story I wrote.  In verse form!)

Emerald, the eldest, was raised mostly by her gran,

Vanessa and Samantha were just pleased with what they had,

Lucy was her mum’s best friend (at least, that was the plan…),

And Love and Angel went back up to Durham with their dad.

 

Emerald was born when Celine was still at school.

She was proud to be a mother, but she soon got bored.

Though she fussed over her daughter, named her for a precious jewel,

Celine soon met a new man, and she quickly cut the cord.

 

Vanessa and Samantha’s dad ran off when they were young.

(His brother later said he’d died, but that may not be true.)

Celine went to her granddad’s house, and that’s where they were flung.

He was old for raising children, but he did what he could do.

 

Lucy’s father was once Celine’s brother-in-law.

He walked out on Celine’s sister soon as Lucy came along.

He was later jailed for arson, shocking Celine to the core.

He thought she would stand by him, but he turned out to be wrong.

 

Emerald, known as Emmy, was now about sixteen.

She still lived at her gran’s house, and that had worked out fine.

It had been nearly a decade since she last spoke to Celine.

She had her friends, she got good grades, she had no time to pine.

 

Celine’s grandfather passed on when Sam was nearly six.

She’s remember him in future as a funny, gentle man.

She moved back in with her mother, who was running out of tricks

For getting rid of children such as Emmy, Sam and Van.