IanG

I'm not great when it comes to the technicalities of poetry but I relate to the sentiments expressed here. There's emotional truth in it.

I'd have written 'a huge smile that showed his front teeth were missing,' it feels more fluent.

The opening lines are good, they create tension and raise questions of who this man is and how he comes to be brawling. His relationship with his brother is plausible and you convey it well.

There's a lot of truth in this.

Brief though it is, you evoke the scene well.

It takes great skill to say so much with so few words. I'd have given the daughter a name but that's a minor quibble in a fine story.

The title grabs attention. I assume the dialogue is between a mother and child. Children sometimes have bizzare ideas and vivid imaginations, if you were aiming to convey that you did so well.

You describe the scene well. Sitting by watet can indeed be very relaxing.

IIts understandable if you're stressed. There's been s pandemic and a lot of mixed messages about it. You are not alone in feeling this way. Things can get better even when it serms hopeless. There was a recession in the 1980s and I lived through it. It didn't last forever. Don't give up hope.