Sunday, 12 April 2009

NaPoWriMo #12 - where I'm from

NaPoWriMo #12 - prompt: where do you come from?

Meeting my birth mother

where am I from?
all I knew
were brief explanations
a Worker's report

I sought more
we met
we talked
a meeting in a strange time
a one night stand, you said
you wouldn't tell me about my father

terse
unaccommodating
tense

it broke my heart
my pain was palpable
as you assuaged your guilt
a lifetime of standing up for yourself
you diminished me

call me mother
you said
my mother changed my diapers
wiped my tears
shed her tears
you wisely gave me up to her
in a time when it was the best thing to do

the love I felt was deep and unconditional
through trials and tribulations
hormones and hassles
adolescence of addled thinking
too fat
too alone
too smart
too stupid

mother saw me through tears and fears
I saw her through to her end of life
you never saw me again


This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

1 comment:

Catherine said...

Thank you for sharing this, it is touching and honest