A PAINTING SOLD

A nine year old
hides her finger painting
of a mother and child
on a carriage in Paris
from her father
who is an auctioneer
takes the painting
from her and sells it
they move to the Riviera
the older brother writes
a novella
in an ancient tongue
of an ebony past
that never existed
and the father
auctions it off
and they move
to New York,
their Brooklyn cousin
has a burnt out rage
with flashbacks
to war's agent orange
and in a defoliated moment
of a primal scream
puts on his soldier's
uniform, limps by
the family and rifles them.