Free Verse

Why I Love My Mother

She beat me, belittled me,
called me a whore.
She broke me over and over.
She screamed, she shoved
she smashed my head.
She pulled my hair.
Is that not reason enough?
And why do I hate her?
She gave birth to me.

9/27/11 dawn

Free Verse (kind of)

If I had dreams
(a luxury I gave up long ago)
they'd seem very ordinary to
my younger self.

If I had hopes
(a foolish pasttime, don't you agree?)
they'd be so minor as to
escape Pandora's notice.

If I could pray
(a habit lost when God turned away from me)
I'd ask for very little as
that is all I deserve.

If I had tears
(I used to cry easily, but no longer)
I'd save them for the
wrecks I've made in other's lives.

If I had time
(a commodity in scant supply these days)
I'd change just one thing
and then all would be right.


9/18/11 dawn

Free Verse

I went to the funeral of a child yesterday
Not someone I knew well, but someone’s child
Someone’s hope and dreams were being buried
Under the dead winter grass and the bright sunshine
Seemed to mock a father’s grief

I went to the funeral of a man yesterday
Not long a man, but a husband, a father
And their future was being laid to rest
As the wedding ring, still untarnished
Twinkled on a slender, shaking hand

I went to the funeral of a nephew yesterday
A grandson, a brother, a friend
Hoping that all turmoil and selfishness
Could be put aside for one brilliant, cold
Afternoon of grief

I went to the funeral and I learned, yesterday
That there is only tragedy in the death
Of a young man, that people don’t become better
Or worse through grief and that I want to die
Before my child.



03/24/2011 dawn