Poem to our Unemployed Mothers

Poem to our Unemployed Mothers

On the conscience of the firstborn child

Let me lighten your load.

I will carry the weight of your broken promises.

You say I did not ruin your life

but it is much too hard to believe.

He was the hunter; I was the trap,

I will never know how to apologize.

Do not tell me not to apologize.

I am your burden, I am your load.

You did not mean to give birth to a trap –

did you think he would keep his promise?

Now it all seems too good to believe.

You bask in the whisper of your past life.

Did you imagine this would be your life?

You should demand that the gods apologize!

They gave you the potential to believe

then they dragged you down with this load.

They filled your future with promise

then set you the perfect trap.

I think of myself as your trap.

You gave me the best of your life

Poured into me your promise

And refused to let me apologize.

When you tell me I am not your load

do you expect me to believe?

Is this present hard to believe?

You live in a gilded trap

carrying silent mistreatments in your load.

You have learned to ignore your life –

You do not expect apologies

You do not listen to promises.

When did you last see your promise?

Despite it all you taught me to believe,

and how to value an apology

even though “I’m sorry” must feel like a trap.

When you look over the path of your life

who would have predicted this load?

You taught me that promise should never surrender to a trap.

I believe I owe you much more than life.

I can never apologize; please let me lighten your load.