I Miss My Mother

As Mother's Day approached this year, I became very sullen. After about a week, I realised that it was because I missed my mother. She was such a vibrant woman, a social butterfly, a loyal friend and generous hostess. My mother is still alive, living an empty existence without the memories of her experiences that made up who she was. Now this shell that used to house my mother is pacing a hall in a medical facility with other Alzheimer's patients. Her personality has been snatched from her, and I miss her terribly.

I wrote this poem the day before Mother's Day. I post it now.


Mother

You have forgotten
that I have come to see you,
as you walk
to the end of the hall,
and smile at old men
in wheelchairs
and toothless women
shuffling their bed slippers
on the sterile floor.
As you pass me
on your way back,
you slide a glance
over my face
with the eyes of a stranger
and smile, empty.

I still hear your voice
as you call for me
to stop climbing trees
and scaling fences.
I see your smiles
as you follow the lines
of my latest poem,
were they the handstands
and back walkovers
in my competitions.
I still watch you picking out
the choicest pieces of meat
for my plate.
I feel your laughter
that still rides
the beat of some popular tune
you dance to.

And you don’t know how fast
I hold on to the remnants
of what your mind has let go,
misplaced, erased of yourself,
as you walk to the end
of the hall.

Not Me Anymore

You have affected me.
Your words
have displaced my senses
and I can’t breathe anymore.
There’s a stirring inside me
that I don’t recognize
and I can’t sing anymore.
I’m not free anymore.

I pinch my eyes
against the tears
that burn with the breath
of a liar’s tongue.
And I don’t trust anymore.
And I watch silently
as you adjust your touch
like the dial on a thermostat,
so that when I open my legs to you,
you run cold.

See
how you have affected me?
This face isn’t mine anymore.

Can't Trust Anyone Any More

I wake up to find that trust is an unobtainable entity that breathes down the necks of the gullible, while dominating the shadows that blindfold their eyes. Sucked into their dreaming, conned into believing that man's word is worth saving, the simple clutch their hands together and grasp hold on nothing.

I blink back the tears that betrayal traces with a cunning finger over my cheeks and suck in a sigh of strength that fills my lungs with the will to press on. And I put no faith in man, for all men are liars and strive to achieve their own self-serving ends, regardless of the effects their methods have on others.

And I find all this, before I unfold my arms from across my chest and walk out into the dawn.

Read more on Trust